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Mend Club 



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A STORY OH 




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BY 


HOWARD VA.XT OB.DE3ST 





























































THE 




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E AND MEND CLUB 


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A STORY OF 

BUYS' ADVENTURES, SPORTS 

AND 

* 

EXPERIMENTS. 




BY HOWARD YAN ORDEN. 



1883. 







(rvitoi 

V, vs. 


Copyrighted 1883, by Albert Sibley & Co. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLDB. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE CJjUB IS FORMED. 

It was just after suudown on an evening in September that four 
boys met on the porch of a handsome cottage situated in a country 
place, the name of which it is not necessary for our purpose to 
mention here 

They had not yet rung the bell when the door opened and a 
merry and cordial voic* was heard exclaiming: 

“ Hurrah, boys, here we are again! Come right in; glad to see 
you-, did you have agooa time this summer ?” 

“First-rate, Charley/' was the reply of a dark-haired boy with a 
jolly-looking face; a face the sight of which was sufficient to in¬ 
form any person of the reason why his companions had given him 
the soubriquet of “ Jolly Joe.” 

The b ys on entering were met bv a pleasant- faced lady, who in¬ 
quired 

“ Well, boys, can I expect to see your fathers and mothers this 
evening ?” 

“Mine’s coming,” said Joe. 

“ And mine also,” uttered a light haired youth of fifteen, who 
was known among his elders as “ Thoughtful Ben.” 

It may be as well to state here that in this pretty country town 
there were three families, living not far from each other, who were 
very intimate. 

After the close of school in June these families had gone their 
separate ways for the summer They had but recently returned, 
and Mrs. Amberly had sent a request to her friends, Mrs. 
Stedman and Mrs. Walden, that they would call on this evening. 
The boys had preceded their parents. 

A short time afterward Mr. and Mrs. Stedman arrived. 

Greetings were hardly exchanged, when Mr. and Mrs. Walden 
were announced. 

Ceremony among these three families was a thing unheard of, 



4 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


and, instead of sitting primly in the parlor, they made themselves 
more at home in the comfortable and pleasant sitting-room, where 
the boys were permitted to do about as they pleased, while the 
elders engaged in conversation on subjects of interest to them¬ 
selves. 

The boys had withdrawn into the far corner of the room, whence 
now and then came bursts of laughter, indicating that they were 
having a good time among themselves. 

It was about as nice a looking group of boys as one could wish to 
see* 

There was fat and cheery Charley and his brother, Harry, the 
sons of Mr. and Mrs. Amberly, in whose house this meeting oc¬ 
curred; there was Jolly Toe and his more serious brother, Mark, 
sons of Mr. and Mrs. Stedman: then there was “ Thoughtful Ben ” 
and “Practical George,” the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Walden. 

Singular to say, in each of these families there were but two 
children—these boys—so that the three families numbered the six 
seated there in the corner ana evidently enjoying themselves. 

During tht evening Mrs. Steaman remarked: 

“ Why, Mrs. Amberly, have you replaced the vase that was brok¬ 
en last spring?” 

“ No, that is th«- same one.,* with a glance toward the mantel. 

“ Why, that one was broken into a number of pieces! Surely it 
can’t be the same.” 

“It is, though,” Mrs. Amberly said, smiling. “ If you will exam¬ 
ine it, you will see that it has been mended.” 

“Sure enough,” Mrs Stedman remarked, after a moment’s close 
scrutiny; “ but it is so well done as almost to defy detection. Did 
you have to send it to town to a professional mender ?” 

“No, the restoration is due to Harry’s genius.” 

“ Yes,” came from Harry in the corner, “ and mother gave me 
twenty-five cents for doing it.” 

“ I think shv' would be perfectly willing to give you that much 
or more for so neat a piece of mending,” Mrs. Stedman said. 

“I say,” remarked Joe to Harry in an undertone, and then Mrs. 
Stedman failed to hear what followed. 

A little while later Joe approached his mother, and said : 

“There is a job of mending mother to be done at our house, 
and if you will pay me as well as Mrs. Amberly paid Harry I will 
do it.” 

“What is it?” 

“To unite the parts of the broken arch on the alabaster clock, 
and set it properly.” 

“ I am afraid you cannot do that.” 

“I am sure I cant” 

“ Has Harry been telling you how ?” 

“Well, that doesn’t make any differenfee, does it? Isn’t it suf¬ 
ficient if I do it?” 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 5 

“Yes; and if you will do it you shall have twenty-five cents the 
same as Harry.” 

This little incident impressed Mr. Amberly quite forcibly, and 
when Joe had returned to the corner, he remarked : 

“Don’t you think it would be a good idea if we could in some 
way develop in our boys an interest for mechanical pursuits?” 

“A good idea,” Mr. Stedman returned. 

Mr. Walden signified a hearty acquiescence in the scheme, and 
the three gentlemen began discussing as to how it might best be 
accomplished. 

The result of their conference became evident when Mr. Amber¬ 
ly called the boys to him. 

“Boys,” he said, beaming good-naturedly upon them, “how 
would you like to form a little club among yourselves, having for 
an object learning how to make and mend ?” 

There was a simultaneous cry from all of the boys, of: 

“First rate!” 

“Your hearty reply pleases me, as I am sure it also pleases Mr. 
Walden and Mr. Stedman. Such tools as you may require we will 
be glad to purchase for you.” 

“Thisidea just tickles me,” Joe remarked, laughing. 

“ The first thing we have to do,” Serious Mark slowly said, “ is to 
get a name for our club.” 

“ That’s easily done,” rejoined Ben. “ Mr. Amberly has already 
suggested a good title.” 

“What was it?” 

“ Why, he said the object of our club was to be making and 
mending; now what better name could we have than The Make 
and Mend Club?” 

Everybody thought the title a very happy one. 

“ The next thing in order,” said Mr. Amberly, “ will be for you 
to adopt a set of by-laws and elect officers.” 

Upon receiving this suggestion the boys asked permission to re¬ 
tire 1 to the dining-room that they might hold their first meeting in 
privacy. 

Ben had an idea that he knew something of parliamentary law. 
Whether he did or not makes very little difference, for the others 
gave him credit with being possessed of this knowledge and com¬ 
menced proceedings by electing him as chairman of the meeting, 
whereupon he bowed his thanks and took his place with consider¬ 
able dignity at the head of the table. 

Being called upon for a speech, he arose, and in a self-possessed 
manner, said: 

“ Gentlemen, we have matters of more importance on hand than 
the making of speeches. This is not a court of law nor a rostrum, 
but a business meeting, and I, as chairman of it, say let business 
commence at once! I now appoint Mark Stedman and George 


6 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

Walden a committee to draft a set of by-laws for our future 
government.” 

Mark bowed gravely, coughed, and said : 

“ For the great honor conferred upon us, Mr. Chairman, we re¬ 
turn our thanks, and will at once proceed with the delicate duty 
intrusted to us, bringing to the task all the abilities that we may 
possess.” 

The result of half an hour’s labor was the following: 

BY-LAWS OF “THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB.” 

Section I. The members of this club must not purchase any¬ 
thing within their ability to make, doing which will subject the 
offending member to a fine of twenty-five cents; or, if the offense 
be very grave, to a sum as much greater as the majority of the 
other members shall decide. 

Section II. This club limits its membership to six, believing 
that number is as many as can work conveniently together. 

Section III. A member must not infringe on the ideas of an¬ 
other, and shall advise and assist to the best of his ability any 
other member who may call upon him for such advice or as¬ 
sistance. 

Section IV. Members can draw from the treasury any sum less 
than one dollar, to be used in making or mending any article de¬ 
signed for personal use; but if employed in making or mending for 
a person not a member, the proceeds must be returned into the 
treasury. 

Section V. Only those who will promise faithfully to be gov¬ 
erned by our by-laws can become members. 

Section VI. Honorary members may be admitted; but they 
shall have no vote nor voice in the proceedings or business of the 
club; and each of them shall be required to pay into our treasury 
twenty-five cents each time a member makes or mends an article 
in a sensible and practical manner. 

Section VII. Benjamin Walden, Esq., is herewith declared to 
be our first honorable presiding officer. Mark Stedman is here¬ 
with declared to be our first honorable secretary and treasurer. 

After these by-laws had been approved there arose a discussion 
among the boys as to whether it would not have been proper to 
define the duties of th officersbut this being decided in th nega¬ 
tive, a movement to adjourn into the sitting room was held to be 
in order. 

“Well,” Mr. Amberly said, when they entered, “is the club 
regularly constituted now ?” 

“ It is, sir,” Ben returned. “I have the honor to be its first presi¬ 
dent and Mark here is our secretary, in which capacity he will 
have the pleasure of reading to you the by-laws this night 
adopted.’ 

There was a smile of approval on the faces of all as the opening 
sections wer read: the smile grew into a laugh when that section 
was reached wherein the privileges and penalties attaching to 
honorary members were set forth. 

When he had finished reading this, Mark modestly said: 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 7 

“We have not yet purchased a book in which to write our min¬ 
utes, hence I trust you will exouse my reading several resolutions 
passed by us, and hastily jotted down on these scraps of paper I 
hold in my hand. 

“ ‘ Resolved, That the members of The Make and Mend Club 
unanimously and heartily concur in the acceptance of a set of 
tools proffered us by the Messrs. Amberly, Steaman and Walden, 
and that we thus express our thanks, which shall be engrossed in 
the minutes, and a copy of this resolution forwarded to them by 
our secretary. ’ 

“ Resolved, That w hereby elect as honorary members of The 
Make and Menu Club th< Messrs. Amberly Stedman and Wal¬ 
den, and trust they will promptly respond when our secretary 
callr upon them for numerous quarters of a dollar ’ ” 

“I expected it,” laughed Mr Stedman.* u I thought that blun- 
derbus of a sixth section was aimed at us.” 

“ Mr. Amberly, don’t you think that is rather a sharp dodge?” 
Mr. Walden inquired. 

“ Rather, I must say. But they have caught us fairly, and I for 
one shall not back out. So, Mr. Secretary, you may call upon me 
as soon as you like.” 


CHAPTER II. 

MENDING. 

As soon as school was out the next day Joe Stedman started for 
home. Several inducements that were held out to him to "join dif¬ 
ferent parties of boys were of no avail, He had the mending of 
that alabaster clock in his mind, and until it was accomplished he 
could not rest easy. 

He had already invested in five cents’ worth of plaster of Paris, 
so there was no occasion for his stopping on the way home. 

Having borrowed a large apron and tied it around him so that 
his clothing should not be soiled by the plaster, he then put about 
a thimble full into a dry cup. In th< kitchen he obtained a table 
knife, the blade of which was worn very thin with long service. 
The broken alabaster arch was lying on the table, together with 
several small blocks of w od. the latter being intended for sup¬ 
porting th arch after the two pieces had been joined and while 
the plaster was drying 

Having placed everything handy, he poured a small quantity of 
water on the plaster in the cup, finding which was absorbed read¬ 
ily he poured in a little more, and kept on gradually adding water 
until the mixture was quite thin, so that when taken on the knife- 
blade it would drop easily from it. 

Having spread a thin coat of the mixture on one end of the 
fracture, previously assuring himself that it was free from dirt, he 
then brought the two parts together, and by means of the blocks 
of wood held them firmly in place. 

Allowing half an hour for the plaster to set, by which we mean 



8 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

to part, with its moisture, he then found that the two parts were 
fastened. 

The pressure applied when the fractured parts were joined had 
caused a little of the plaster to exude above the surface; this he 
n> w removed very carefully with the knife, doing it cautiously 
that the alabaster might not b scratched. 

The arch was now complete, and ready to be returned to its 
proper position, where it had been previously secured by the same 
means adopted by him to join the sundered parts. 

With the knife he now removed such of the old and dry plaster 
as remained fixed to the ends of the arch, as well as the bases on 
which it had been supported. 

The mixture that he had in the first instance made was by this 
time hard and unfit to be used; hence he cleaned the cup out, and, 
using about th, same quantity of plaster, made a new mixture, 
this time slightly thicker than before. 

With nis knife he placed a thin film of it on the ends of the arch, 
which he then qui kly adjusted in its proper position, and pressed 
it down gently but firmly. 

Securing it so that it could not fall, and result in further injury, 
he then left it to harden, after which he removed with the knife 
such portion of the plaster as had squeezed out from beneath the 
bases of the arch. 

His mother being called in to examine his work, pronounced it 
as well done as it could have been done by any jeweler to whom 
she might have taken it, and who at once gave him the sum prom¬ 
ised. 

Ben heard of .Toe’s success with a thoughtful face, and forthwith 
determined that he w. uld find something in his house that wanted 
mending. 

Home was no sooner reached than a search was commenced for 
some broken article, the mending of which would fall within his 
ability. 

It would have been a singular house had there not been one or 
more broken articles about it. 

“ l say, mother!” he exclaimed, bursting into the cozy room 
where his mother was at work, “don’t you want that lamp 
mended ?” 

“What lamp?” 

“ Why, the one that we used in the dining-room ?” 

“ I am afraid you can’t mend that. The base which fits on the 
glass body, and into which the burner screws, is off.” 

“ I know that, mother; and that’s just what I propose to 
mend.” 

“ Do you think that you can securely fasten the brass collar 
on?” 

I do, mother, and I don t want you to give me anything unless 
I make a perfect job of it.” 


9 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

Receiving his mother’s sanction to make a trial Ben hurried 
down stairs and possessed himself of the lamp. 

From Joe he borrowed some plaster, and in the cellar he found 
an empty bottle, that, fortunately, had a cork in it. 

This cork he inserted into the brass collar from the top, pressing 
it in as far as it would go. 

He cleaned the raised portion, or neck, of glass at the opening, 
and placing the lamp within easy reach he now mixed some plaster 
in a cup, making it quite thin. 

The brass collar being placed in an inverted position he took up 
the cup containing the plaster solution, and poured the brass nearly 
full. 

Now taking up the lamp and turning it upside down, he placed 
the hole above the cork, following which down brought the neck 
of glass within the brass rim, causing a portion of the plaster to 
overflow; he did not attempt to remove this now, only took means 
to hold the lamp steady in its upright position. 

An hour later he returned, and, lifting up the lamp, found the 
brass securely fastened to it. 

He now removed the cork carefully, so as not to rupture the 
connecting substance, and then with a pocket-knife cleaned out 
such excess of plaster as was found. 

His father and mother pronounced the job a perfect one in every 
respect, as, indeed, it could not well help being, since he had in a 
simple way performed exactly the same operation as had secured 
it in the first instance. 

His demand for twenty-five cents was duly honored. 

This was for repairing alone, and belonged to him. But there 
was another twenty-five cents that his father, as an honorary mem¬ 
ber of The Make and Mend Club, was compelled to pay into its 
treasury. 

In addition to this Mr. Walden was called upon to pay twenty- 
five cents for the mending of the alabaster clock. The other two 
gentlemen, being called upon to pay fifty cents each, the sum total 
in the treasury was $1.50. 

At a meeting, informally held the next afternoon the six boys 
united in declaring The Make and Mend Club to be a glorious in¬ 
stitution. 

Stimulated by the success thus far met with, each of the six boys 
began casting about him for an opportunity to exercise his ingen¬ 
uity in making or mending something. 

Each discovered many a thing to make or mend which, unfortu¬ 
nately, required more skill than he possessed. 

It was left to Harry, “the ingenious,” to first discover an out¬ 
let for the consuming desire to do something. 

Mrs. Amberly was the owner of a canary, a cute little fellow, as 
yellow as yellow could be, and a beautiful songster. He had been 
honored by the name of Nebuchadnezzar, but this being rather 


10 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

too large a mouthful for common use, it had been shortened to 
Neb. 

“Now, Neb,” Harry one day said, nodding his head at the 
canary, who was gazing intently at him with one bright little bead 
of an eye; “now, Neb, I’m going to teach you a trick that will 
make you the admiration of all who see you. I’ve asked mother’s 
permission and she has given it, so I’m going to commence work at 
once. Understand?” 

Neb lifted his head, then the feathers at his throat ruf&ed them¬ 
selves, and he piped a few complacent, self-satisfied notes that 
as much as said : 

“Understand? Of course I do, and I am anxious to see what 
you mean to do.” 

Neb betrayed no fear when Harry began making sundry meas¬ 
urements about the cage. 

Presently, drawing back, the boy thoughtfully surveyed the 
cage for a full minute, and then he nodded two or three times, his 
face brightening in unison with the movement. 

“That will do it exactly,” he said to himself, and then made his 
way to the kitchen in search of a small tin box that would hold 
water without leaking. 

He soon found what he wanted, a box a little over an inch deep 
and barely as wide. 

He now hunted up a bit of brass wire and then went to his 
mother for a thimble. She had an old one which she gave him, 
and having provided himself with a pair of nippers and a sharp- 
pointed awl, he went to the room where Neb’s cage hung. 

Taking down the cage, Harry placed it gently on a table and 
then removed the drinking fountain, which had been held in place 
by the elasticity of the wires on either side of it. 



An opening was left like “a,” figure 1. Taking his nippers, he 
bent his piece of wire so as to make a little elbow like “ b,” figure 

2. He next fastened this wire to the cage as shown at “ c,” figure 

3, accomplishing the task so quietly that Neb was not in the feast 
alarmed. 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


11 


With the awl Harry now punched two holes in the thimble, 
close under the rim, exercising considerable care to get them ex¬ 
actly opposite. With a bit of very light wire, he made a bail or 
handle which he fastened in the holes, thus completing a minia¬ 
ture bucket. The bail was bent as shown in figure 4. 

Into the loop “ d ” he fastened a piece of string, which being 
carried into the groove or elbow “ b,” was dropped inside the cage 
and the end secured to the perch. The string was just long enough 
to prevent the thimble touching the projecting rim of the cage’s 
bottom, on which he so placed the tin box that the miniature 
bucket depended in it. 

He now filled the tin box with water and then thus addressed 
the canary : 

“ Now, my dear Neb, when you want a drink you must earn it 
by drawing it from a well. Ha!—that is right!” for Neb, who 
had eyed all these preparations in silence, now began picking away 
at the string, and shutting his bill over it giving it sundry little 
vicious tweaks. 

A canary will nearly always tug and peck at a string placed in 
his cage, and it is owing to this habit that they can so easily be 
taught to perform the trick Harry meant Neb should learn. 

Harry watched Neb’s operations with an absorbed air, doubt 
teeing uppermost in his mind one moment and hope the next. 
Finding there was only a slight resistance when he pulled the 
string Neb began backing away on his perch, tightly holding it in 
his bill. Finally coming to a halt he perched his head on one side 
in a knowing way, giving one the impression that he was consid- 
ing something deeply; after a second or two of indecision Neb 
brought his bill close to the perch and pinned the string to it with 
one pink claw. Every nerve in Harry’s body was tingling expect¬ 
antly now. What would Neb do next ? 

Why, Neb just took a new hold of the string with his bill, drew 
in some more, and secured it beneath the same claw, having to 
Harry’s great delight, drawn the bucket out of the well. 

Neb kept on pulling, until finally the bucket hung in front of 
the opening. If he was not a surprised bird when he saw that 
strange thing hanging there, no bird ever was surprised. After a 
little he grew so oold as to examine it, and possibly being rendered 
thirsty by his exertions he no sooner discovered that the bucket 
contained water than he helped himself to a drink. 

The sight caused Harry to boil over as he expressed it, and he 
uttered a yell of exultation that^would have done credit to a 
Camanche warrior. 

“ Oh! if he will only do that to-night after father comes home!” 
exclaimed Harry. ‘‘That means seventy-five cents more for The 
Make and Mend Club. Uncle Frank will be here also, and—and 
—I shouldn’t wonder a bit if he suggested some improvement, for 
Uucle Frank knows very so much.” 


12 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

Of course all the boys were delighted with Neb’s accomplish¬ 
ment, and we are almost inclined to think, from the frequency 
with which thirst afflicted Neb, that 
he knew it was something of which 
to be proud. 

Uncle Frank did have a suggestion 
to make, to the effect that a prettier 
bucket could be manufactured from 
the shell of a hazel-nut, or filbert, as 
some people call them; the base of 
the nut, the white part, should be 
rubbed on a stone, he said, until it 
was ground entirely away, when the 
meat could be extracted and holes bored into it to receive the bail 
or handle. 

Uncle Frank had traveled nearly all over the world, and there 
were very few things of which he did not know something, and 
which he was able to describe in an interesting manner. In re¬ 
sponse to questions, he said: 

“ Canary birds were first known in the sixteenth century, when 
a vessel that was bound for Leghorn was driven ashore in a storm 
and wrecked on the coast of Italy. 

“On board were some canaries, which, surviving the wreck, 
were bred from, and the climate being a favorable one increased 
rapidly in numbers. 

“Their exquisite singing made them eagerly sought for, and in a 
very short time they were to be found all over Europe. 

“ At the present time they are extensively bred in the Hartz 
Mountains, Germany, and the Tyrol, and a great many persons 
earn a living in raising them. 

“ Neb, there, was hatched out on the Hartz Mountains, and his 
first wants were probably attended to by a rosy-cheeked peasant 
maiden. 

“ Canaries are delicate birds, and are subject to many distempers, 
one of the most common of which is produced by over feeding, re¬ 
sulting in surfeit, and sometimes in what we may call ‘bird apo 
plexy.’ 

“ If they begin to swell and show evidences of being in pain, 
they should be fed sparingly, and kept very warm. 

“The bird should at this time have white oatmeal placed with 
his seed, to scour him, and a little liquorice in his water. If the 
bird should be very ill, let him have a little biscuit, steeped in 
wine, and force a little of it down his throat. 

“ Sometimes a canary will have a small abscess appear under the 
feathers of the rump. When this is ripe, it may be opened with a 
small needle, and all the matter gently squeezed out of it; after¬ 
ward a little bit of sugar, moistened by the mouth and put on the 
wound, will cause it to heal. 






















THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 13 

“Sometimes a kind of scurf appears on the head of the canary; 
this may be cured by the application of the oil of sweet almonds, 
or a little very fresh butter. 

“ Moulting is natural to all birds, and while it lasts the health of 
| the bird is often precarious. When birds begin to moult, that is, 
change their feathers, they appear roving, melancholy, and 
drowsy. In the first year of moulting, the bird casts only his 
down and small feathers, but in the second his tail and wing 
feathers. When in moult, birds should be kept warm, and have 
j good nourishing food. Biscuit, bread, and hard-boiled egg, bruised 
hemp and lettuce seed,and rape seed, are then good for them, and a 
little saffron in their water, which will greatly help them to cast 
their feathers. 

“ Among birds the canary is one of the most intelligent, and can 
readily be taught many simple tricks. Neb appears to be a brighter 
bird than usual, for it generally takes hours, and sometimes sev¬ 
eral days, to teach one to draw water from a well. By exercising 
patience, however, any boy can teach a canary to perform this 
trick.” 

When the secretary called on the honorary members for twenty- 
five cents each, the demur was made that while Harry’s ingenuity 
was both pleasing and praiseworthy, he had accomplished nothing 
of a practical nature. 

Each week the parents of the six boys met at the house of one or 
the other, and at the first meeting subsequent to this it was ar¬ 
ranged that each week when they all came together the boys 
should submit for consideration whatever they had done, and if a 
majority voted that any certain thing was practical or useful the 
secretary might at once collect what was due. 


CHAPTER III. 

AT WORK. 

On the Saturday following this meeting a good sized box was 
delivered at Mr. Stedman’s house by the expressman, addressed to 
The Make and Mend Club, hence the chums had no hesitation in 
opening it. Cries of delight fell from the lips of all at sight of its 
contents, for before their eyes were the promised set of tools. 

First there was a vise, which as Mark turned over in his hand, 
he remarked: 

“ This means that we must put up a work-bench, for it is of no 
use otherwise.” 

“Well,” said Joe, “we ought to have brains and skill enough 
among us to make a work-bench.” 

Just at this moment Uncle Frank put in an appearance, and as 
he took various tools out of the box explained their uses. 






14 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


“This,” he said, “is a jack-plane, and is used to take the rough 
surface from a board. 



Fig. -6. 

It should be held steadily by fixing the right hand at the handle (h) and the 
left over the top and side at (s) and pushed forward on the wood, when the knife 
(k) will take oft a shaving which runs through the hole (o) and falls on the side. 

“ This,” Uncle Frank went on, “is a long plane, and is intended 
to be used after you are done with the jack-plane.” 



Fig. 7. 

“And this,” taking up a short one, “is a 
smoothing plane, and you will probably find 
it to be the most useful to you.” 



Fig. 9. Fig. 8. 

“ Here you have a handsaw with large teeth bent considerable 
outward. It is a ‘ rip-saw ’ and intended for use when sawing with 
the grain of a board. This saw with smaller teeth is a ‘ cross-cut,’ 
and is used in sawing across the grain.” 

“ This is a back-saw. The teeth are very small, so as to make a 
smooth edge where it severs a piece of lumber. You will find use 
for it when you want to make a joint—the cross-cut saw would 
leave a ragged edge, preventing a tight joint.” 




Fig. 10. 



Fig. 11. 


“ Here you have a compass-saw. The purpose of tapering it 















































THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 15 

down to a point is to permit of its being inserted in an auger hole, 
and the narrowness of the blade will enable you to out out a piece 
of wood circular in form.” 



Fig. 12. 


‘‘Here is what is called a spoke- 
shave. It is employed for smooth¬ 
ing the edges of round pieces or 
other ends requiring to be shaved 
down. It is used by taking an 
end in each hand and cutting by 


drawing toward you.” 

‘‘Here is a good brace, the pur¬ 
poses of which you cannot fail to 
understand. I see a fine collection 
of bits of various sizes for it. 

“Here also are hammers, screw¬ 
drivers, squares—a most excellent 
set of tools truly. If you boys are not able now to ‘ make and 
mend ’ anything in the line of carpentry, it will be for lack of 
skill and patience.” 

“Where is our workshop to be located ?” inquired Charlie. 
“That’s all settled,” Joe returned. “ As we have no horse now, 
and father does not intend to get another, he has placed the main 
floor of the barn at our disposal.” 

“Three cheers for Mr. Stedman!” exclaimed Charlie, and the 
boys gave them with a will. 

Uncle Frank—they all called him that—listened with a pleased 
look on his face. 

He ,liked to see them grateful and appreciative of what was done 
for them. 

All the spare hours of nearly a week were spent in putting up a 
bench on which to work, the lumber for which was supplied by 
their fathers, aided a little by Uncle Frank, who, Joe informed his 
chums, he should propose at the next meeting for honorary mem¬ 
bership. 

During the time the work-bench was in course of building, all 
the boys had been planning something, and when it was finished 
the question arose as to who should take precedence. 

In a good-natured way this was settled, all the others waiving 
their claims in favor of Ben, as Charlie said, “ To show due respect 
for the president.” 

The season had advanced nearly to the month of October, and 
splendid kite-flying breezes were of daily occurrence. 

This led Ben into the manufacture of a kite, his method of doing 
which was as follows: 

He ripped a half inch strip from a pine board an inch thick, mak¬ 
ing it eighteen inches long. This he planed up on all four sides 
until it was smooth. 

Having decided that a kite with a bowed or round top was pret- 



Fig. 13. 






16 THE MAKE AND MEND CLpB. 


tier and more graceful, he cast about him for means to make the 
bow, and hit upon a section of a flour-barrel hoop as being the 
most convenient thing. 

By splitting it he got a slip only slightly more thau a quarter of 
an inch in width. 

This he secured by tying the center to one end of his upright. 

Driving pins in both ends he now placed the frame so that the 

pper end rested against the wall and the other on the floor. Find¬ 
ing that one side sunk a little, he chipped away bits of the hoop 
until the frame balanced as delicately as a druggist’s scales, which 
insured its not being a “diver,” performing all sorts of strange 
antics, and absolutely refusing to ascend. 



If you do as Ben did, you will fasten a string at “a,” 
take a turn about the upright at “b” (which is six 
inches from the top), then carry it along and tie at 
“c,” where a notch to receive the cord will make 
it more secure. Run the string to “d,”back to 
“a,” then to “f” (where a notch has also been made), 
then to “ c,” where a turn is made, then to “ e,” 
thence back again to “ a,” and fasten the end. 

The skeleton of the kite is now complete. 

Select paper that is tough and light for a covering 
Fig. 14. —newspaper is too heavy for its strength, but it will 
answer if no other is to be had. Spread your paper out on a table 
and lay the kite frame on top of it. With a scissors cut around the 
kite, allowing about an inch for turning and pasting. 

The paper being pasted on with starch paste—flour paste will do, 
but starch is better—you will now desire to hang your kite. If it 
is eighteen inches in length, fasten the top string of the “belly- 
band ” about three inches below the bender, and the bottom string 
about the same distance from the lower point. A cross-string is 
next stretched from “a ” to “c,” and the ball of twine fastened to 
where the two strings meet. 

You can if you wish, as Ben did, take a couple of sheets of writ¬ 
ing-paper and make a semblance of wings that were fastened at 
“a” and “c.” 

The tail, to be of a graceful length, should be about ten times as 
long as the kite. 

The person flying the kite must regulate the weight of the tail 
according to circumstances, as the same kite will act differently in 
breezes of different strength. 

The success of Ben’s kite inspired Harry to make one, and as the 
by-laws did not permit infringement, he made a round one that 
the boys all declared “behaved beautiful.” If you would like to 
make a round kite here are the directions: 

Take two sticks fifteen inches long, and having found the exact 
center fasten them securely, being; careful that true right angles 
are formed. A groove can now be cut in the ends of the crossed 




THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


17 


pieces and wire carefully bent around, preserving a tr«e cirole. It 
will be papered in a manner similar to the other. 

Mark Stedmau, being an officer of the club was given the next 
chance to distinguish himself at the work-bench, and he did by 
making a pair of stilts. 

If you have never owned a pair of stilts it is not because you 
have not wanted them, but probably for the reason that they 
could not be bought and you did not know how to make them for 
yourself. We will tell you how Mark made them, but request 
you, before commencing, to make up your minds not to hold us 
responsible for the tumbles and bruises that may result before you 
have become an adept in their use. 

If you are limited to the use of pine for the uprights, let them be 
an inch and a half square. If you can get oak sticks they need not 
be heavier than an inch and a quarter. Mark used pine. They are 
to be seven feet long. 

You now take a*couple of pieces of pine, and reduce them by 
knife or any convenient means to the following shape: 

Mark found the spoke-shave of great use in making these pieces. 
' The width across the top, on which the foot rests, 

JJ should be full four inches. The length may be six inches, 
although it can be more or less without harm. Now 

// measure fifteen inches from the ends of both sticks, and 

U * A make a good, broad, plain mark. Place the top of the 

Fig. 15. foot-rest flush with the mark and drive a wrought nail 
through at point lettered “A ” fig. 15. Have the nail long enough 
to go through and come out at the back; then rest the head of the 
nail on something hard, carefully turn the point of the nail over 
and drive it into the wood, “ clinching it,” a carpenter would call it. 
Other nails may now be driven from the back toward the front 
until the foot-rest is perfectly secure. Additional strength may be 
obtained by getting a couple of “ angle irons ” atahardware store, 
and fastening by screws in the right angle formed by the foot¬ 
rest and uprights. 

You may, if you so desire, add a pair of “ stirrups,” being a piece 
of leather strap tacked from the upright to the outer edge of the 
foot-rest; but we would advise that you leave the straps alone 
until you have had some practice in balancing, for they so suc¬ 
cessfully fulfil their mission of holding the feet that you might not 
be able to get free as quickly as may be necessary, and thereby 
get a “ header,” in which stilts are the equal if not the superior of 
the bicycle. 

At the meeting, which took place in the evening of the day when 
Mark finished his stilts, the boys were called upon to state what 
they had accomplished during the week. 

Ben doubtfully said he had made a kite successfully, that it had 
flown beautifully, but he hardly thought he could rightfully lay 
the honorary \pembers under contribution. 





18 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


By a vote it was decided that a kite did not come under the head 
of practical or useful, hence Harry said nothing about his round 
kite. Mark arose to say that he had made a pair of stilts, and 
claimed the customary allowance. 

“ Surely,” said his father, “you do not mean to say a pair of 
stilts is anything more than something with which a boy tries to 
break his neck?” 

“ I claim, sir, that stilts are useful and practical.” 

“Explain how?” 

“Why, sir,” Mark said, “they 
have been found of great value to 
a class of people in the south of 
France—the shepherds of Landes. 
Indeed they could not well do 
without them, and little ohildren 
are instructed in their use almost 
as soon as they begin to walk. 
The agility which these people dis¬ 
play, and the antics they per¬ 
form on their stilts is an astonish¬ 
ing sight to those who see them 
for the first time. The reason for 
wearing stilts is found in the fact 
that in the wintertime their coun¬ 
try is covered with water, while 
in the summer the stilts serve to 
keep their feet out of the hot 
sand.” 

“My!” exclaimed Joe. “How 
very learned Marie has become.” 

“Gentleman,” inquired Mr. Wal¬ 
den, “is Mark’s position a good 
one?” 

“ It is,” replied Mr. Stedman and 
Mr. Amberly, and the latter added: 

“ It looks as if our pocket-books are going to suffer when a 
practical use is found for a pair of stilts.” 

The treasury being enriched by the sum of seventy-five cents, 
the boys retired in high glee to the dining-room. All thought 
Mark had done a very clever thing in getting the money for mak¬ 
ing a pair of stilts. 

The first motion made and passed was that five more pairs should 
be made, and that they should exercise on them with a view to a 
grand race after a while. 

When they returned Uncle Frank was informed, with much dig¬ 
nity, by the honorable secretary that he had been unanimously 
elected an honorary member of The Make and Mend Club, his 
admission to date from their last meeting. 



Fig. 16. 








19 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

t: Which,’ ’ Mark said, in conclusion, “ entitles the club to collect 
from you the sum of twenty-five cents.” 

Uncle Frank was dazed by the suddenness with which he was 
informed of the honor conferred upon him—at least he appeared 
to be He put his hand in his pocket and transferred a silver 
quarter from it to Mark’s hand before he said: 

“ Isn’t the dating back of my admission slightly irregular?” 

“ Not according to our rules, sir,” Mark promptly said. 

“ But why date my admission from the last meeting?” 

“ Because,” Joe broke in, with a droll smile, “ we thought you 
might be angry if we took a quarter from each of the other gentle¬ 
men and left you out in the cold.” 

There was an amused twinkle in Uncle Frank’s eyes as he turned 
away in silence. 

After a discussion at the meeting just ended the chums had 
agreed on a certain course of work and play to the effect that one 
afternoon they should work at the bench and devote the next to 
some game, chosing in preference a new one each time. An ap¬ 
peal to Uncle Frank resulted in the description of a game he called 
—“Duck on a Rock”—which follows, in nearly the words he 
used: 

“ Duck should be played by a number exceeding three, but not 
more than six or eight. A rock with a smooth top is placed on or 
fixed into the ground, and a boundary marked at eight or ten yards 
distance. Each of the players provides himself with a flat stone 
the size of a small horseshoe; one of them, by chance or choice, 
becomes duck; that is, he places the stone with which he is going 
to play on the rock, and stands a little on one side. The others 
then cast their ducks at it, in turn, from the boundary, each en¬ 
deavoring to knock it off its place. Each player, as soon as he has 
cast his duck, watches for an opportunity of carrying it back to 
the boundary, so as to cast again. If the player who is duck can 
touch him after he has taken up his ttone, and before he reaches 
the boundary, provided his own stone remain on the rock, then 
the player so touched becomes duck. It sometimes happens that 
three or four of the out-players’ ducks lie so closely together that 
the player who is duck can stand in a situation to be within reach 
of all of them ; in this case, they cannot, without running the risk 
of being touched, pick up, until one of those who are at the boun¬ 
dary is lucky enough to strike the duck off the rock ; then, before 
its owner can replace it, which he must do before he can touch a 
player, they all take up their ducks and run to the boundary, 
where, of course, they are safe.” 

This was all so simple and clear that the boys could not fail to 
understand it, and royal fun they had the next afternoon when 
playing this game for the first time. 


30 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


CHAPTER IV. 

WORK AND PLAY. 

“ What a magnificent place for a swing!” exclaimed one of the 
boys, looking up at the nearly horizontal limb of a splendid black 
walnut tree under which they were lying at the time to rest 
themselves after a rapid run across the fields. 

“ Why can’t we have a swing?” inquired George Walden. 

“Perhaps your father would not like us to use his walnut tree 
for that purpose,” returned Harry Amberly. 

“ Why not? I am sure he would have no objections as long as 
we did not injure the tree, which I am sure we would not.” 

“ For one I can see no reason why we should,” said Joe. “ Who 
votes for a swing to be put up out of the funds of the Make and 
Mend Club?” 

“ I do! ” came from all the others, almost at the same instant. 

Before they left the spot it was arranged that George should ask 
permission of his father, which, being granted, the swing was to 
be put up the next afternoon. 

Mr. Walden had no objections whatever, and when school let out 
the next day the boys resolved themselves into “ a committee of 
the whole,” as they say in parliamentary proceedings, and went in 
a body to the principal ^barc' Yare store of the town, where Ben, 
acting as spokesman, they made their wants known. 

“The distance from the ground to the limb is eighteen feet,” Ben 
said, “ and we want a rope of the right size for that length.” 

“ I should judge a rope three-quarters of an inch in diameter 
would be about what you want,” was the reply. 

“ Just what Uncle Frank said,” chimed in Joe. 

It being settled that the size was right, the storekeeper was 
instructed to cut off twenty-two feet, the extra four feet being 
added to make sure of enough for tying securely. 

Being back under the tree a ladder was procured long enough to 
reach the limb and was duly placed in proper position. The rope 
was now cut exactly at the center, and taking the end of one piece, 
Joe went up the ladder with it. To put up a swing is a very simple 
thing, yet for all that there is a right 
as well as a wrong way to do it. Uncle 
Frank’s knowledge had been called 
upon again, and Joe was prepared to 
put it up right. 

The whole secret consists in the way 
in which the rope is fastened to the 
limb—that is to say on the kind of a 
knot that is made. Fig. 17. 

Joe made a knot like this: 

It is what a sailor would call a double-half-hitch, and is made by 
casting the end of the rope from the back of the limb toward 






THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


21 


you, keeping the end to the left of the suspended piece; the end 
is again passed back of the limb and over it toward you, keeping to 
the right of the cast already made, and passing the end down 
through the loop in the manner illustrated in Fig. 17. This makes 
a knot that cannot possibly slip, and which is made tighter in pro¬ 
portion to the weight that is brought to bear on it. It will draw 
up close to the bottom of the limb and will gripe it so tightly that 
there will be no slipping, and consequently none of that disagree¬ 
able squeaking sound that is common to the majority of swings. 
The end is to be fastened by a strand to the long rope. 

While Joe was tying these knots, Mark went to their workshop 
and sawed out a seat. He made it eight inches wide and twenty in 
length. One inch from each end he bored a hole with a three- 
quarter inch bit, which* was the size of the rope it will be remem¬ 
bered ; with this he returned to the walnut tree where they were 
by this time ready for him. 

The ends of the rope were now passed through the holes made 
for this purpose, and a knot tied in them to prevent slipping back, 
and the swing was finished. 

A great many persons do not cut the rope in making a swing, 
but have it in one continuous piece from where it is fastened to 
the limb on one side, down through the holes in the board, and 
back to the second fastening; but Uncle Frank’s experience led 
him to prefer the cut rope, as the height from the ground could be 
more easily regulated when the rope was shrunken by rain or 
much drawn out through having become very dry. 

“Very well done, boys,” remarked a cheery voice, as they were 
surveying their work with not a little satisfaction; and facing in 
the direction of the speaker they saw it was Uncle Frank. “Now, 
who gets first swing?” 

“ Uncle Frank, if he will accept it,” Joe quickly answered, and 
added in an undertone for the benefit of Mark’s ears: “ Wouldn’t 
I like to swing him so high that he would cry for quarter!” 

“Getrighton, Uncle Frank,” said Ben. “ We’ll swing you until 
you are tired.” 

“ I am much obliged, boys, but I never have anybody swing me; 
it would be no fun for me that way.” 

“ How would you do, then ?” 

“Swing myself. In that way a person gets some exercise, thus 
making swinging of practical benefit. If you would like me to do 
it, I will show you some feats that were the admiration of us boys 
in the days when I was about your ages.” 

“We wouldn’t like anything better,” the boys hastened to as¬ 
sure him, and Uncle Frank, with a smile, advanced to the swing, 
saying: 

“ You must please bear in mind that I am not as young as I 
once was, nor quite so spry; so if I make an ungraceful move, or 
take an awful tumble, you must oot laugh at me,” 


33 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

To this they all agreed—but, boy-like, added, mentally, “ if we 
can help it.” 

“ I will first show you a safe and graceful way of getting on the 
swing while it is in motion,” said Uncle Frank, as he took a rope 
in each hand just above the seat. “Now, watch me closely, for 
when I have done it, I shall expect you to try the feat.” 

He walked backward until he had the ropes pretty well 
stretched, as shown in figure 18; then, with a smile to the 
boys and gathering himself for a swift run, he started for¬ 
ward, letting the ropes glide upward through his hands as far as 
he could reach. The instant he felt a check, he grasped the ropes 
firmly, and giving a light spring as he contracted the muscles of 
his arms, he landed on the seat in a standing position. Taking 
the time of the return movement to steady Jiimself, he then began 
to “ churn,” as he called it, which is to force the swing to and fro 
by bending the body. 

“ Who wants to try it first ?” he inquired, as he presently sprung 
from the swing. 

After some hesitation, Ben announced himself a candidate for 
furnishing the others with some amusement,and stepping forward, 
he copied Uncle Frank’s movements. 

He performed the feat more easily than he had expected, and as 
he swung back and forth he remarked: 

“ It is as easy as eating pie, boys.” 

Charley Amberley agreed to try ijb next. 

All the other boys laughed as his dumpy figure waddled back 
with the ropes in his hands. 

“ Be careful, Charley!” warned Ben Walden. “ Don’t spring too 
hard, or you will lift yourself clear over the limb.” 

Charley good humoredly joined in the laugh that followed, and 
his fat figure fairly shook like a mold of jelly. 

Soon, straightening his face he gathered himself for a run, then 
started forward. 

Now, Charley was, as we know, quite fat and heavy. He was 
well aware of the fact himself, and knew that it was necessary fo- 
him to exercise more strength in springing than Ben had. 

On this rock, so to speak, he was wrecked. 

He sprung with entirely too much vim ! 

Passing through the ropes and completely over the board, the 
rope was jerked out of his hands as he began to descend, and the 
next moment he was sitting on the ground in a stiffly erect posi¬ 
tion, wondering what had happened. 

The gaze he bestowed on his chums was one of partial bewilder¬ 
ment, at sight of which they began to laugh. 

The sound of their merriment brought Charley to his full senses, 
and being a boy quick to see tha ridiculous side of a thing he 
turned around and inquired: 

‘‘Have we had an earthquake?” 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


23 


“We didn’t feel it,” said Ben; “did you?” 

“ Something happened,” Charley drolly returned, as he rose to 
his feet. “ Now, then, just watch me while I show you how to get 
into a swing.” 

“ Better not try it, Charley; you’re too fat.” 

Charley said never another word, only shut his teeth in a way 
that indicated his intention of performing the feat, whether he 
was heavy as an ox or light as a zephyr. 

His pluck was duly rewarded. 

At this trial he was successful. He then stepped back with a 
satisfied air, and complacently said : 

“Next! Now it is my turn to laugh.” 

And it was. Not one of those who followed got off free; every 
one met with some ridiculous mishap, and none laughed so loud 
as Charley. 

“Now,” said Uncle Frank, when all had performed this feat, “I 
will show you another movement. It is how to sit down afteryou 
have taken the standing position.” 

When .the swing was moving steadily he let the ropes slide 
through his hands, and slipping his feet off the board came down 
to a sitting position as nicely as one could wish. To recover his 
standing position he reached his hands as high as he could, and 
gripeing the rope tightly, drew himself upward while the swing 
was moving forward, and the board came exactly beneath his feet. 

“ Now to show you something more,” remarked Uncle Frank. 
“Let the swing go very gently. Place both hands at the level of 
the shoulders and suddenly extend them, keeping the arms 
straight. Take care, as there will be a violent vibration, and you 
will be shot out of the swing before you know where you are. 
Practice it first while the swing is still, but do not be satisfied until 
you can do it while in strong swing, and without closing the hands, 
merely letting the palms rest against the ropes as shown in fig. 18. 





Fig. is. Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 

“ Stand sideways on the seat, grasp one rope with both hands, 
leaning your back against the other, taking care to have the rope 
well between the shoulder blades. Put the inner center of the left 




34 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


foot agaiust the opposite rope, and fix the right foot in the same 
manner against the left heel. Now let go both hands, and lean 
well backwards, when you will be balanced exactly, as shown in 
figure 21. 

“ When you are secure with a quiet swing, practice it while the 
swing is moving, until you can lie securely against the rope while 
you are moving freely. The balance is entirely kept by the shoul¬ 
der blades against the rope, and the arms must be folded in order 
to throw the shoulder blades well back. If the gymnast gets 
alarmed, and puts his hands out to save himself, the rope slips off 
his back and out he goes.” 

Uncle Frank accompanied his words by making the movements 
he described, as the boys appeared to understand which, he now 
left them to practice alone. 

The instructions they had received resulted in a greater amount 
of pleasure in the swing than they could otherwise have had, and 
they determined at the next meeting to pass a resolution proffering 
Uncle Frank a vote of thanks. 

A couple of days later, when the boys got home from school, it 
was proposed that they should go off on their stilts for exercise, 
each one now being the owner of a pair. 

George said they would have to excuse him, as he had that morn¬ 
ing stubbed his toe, making it so sore that he intended removing 
his shoe and putting on one of his mother’s slippers. 

Left all alone he cast around him for something to do to employ 
his time and prevent it hanging heavily on his hands. 

“ The very thing!” he suddenly exclaimed, as an idea crossed his 
mind at sight of a piece of soft leather. 

Placing this piece of leather on the workbench he seached for 
and found a baking powder can that was slightly more than an 
inch across the top. 

Pressing this firmly down on the leather he cut out a round piece 
with his pocket-knife. In the center of this he made a little hole 
with an awl, through which he passed a cord, knotting one end so 
that it would not slip through. (Fig. 21.) 



Fig. 21. Fig. 22. 

Having soaked the leather in water a few minutes he now went 
out doors, and shortly founfl a stope with a srpooth surface that 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


25 


would probably weigh fifteen pounds. Dropping the circle of 
leather on this he pressed it firmly down with his foot, treading it 
until he had forced all the air from under it. Now lifting on the 
string, the stone came up attached to the leather, as shown in 
figure 23. 

“ What have you there?” inquired Uncle Frank, as George came 
along, lugging the stone. 

“A sucker,” was the reply. 

“ Does that little bit of leather lift the stone?” 

“ Of course,” returned George, giving Uncle Frank a surprised 
look, that as much as said : “ I thought you would know that.” 

44 jciew does it work ?” and there was an amused twinkle in Unde 
Frank’s eyes. 

“ Why, you just wet the leather and press it down on the stone 
to get the air out, and then the stone will hang on, if the weight is 
not too great.” 

“ I understand that much. What I meant to ask was, why does 
the leather have the power to lift the stone? Do you understand 
the reason well enough to explain it to me?” 

“ No, sir,” George answered, coloring a little. “ Will you tell me, 
sir?” 

“ With pleasure. The power of your sucker to lift the stone lies 
in the fact of the exclusion of the air between the leather and the 
stone. The air pressing with a weight of nearly fifteen pounds 
upon a square inch, it follows that with a square inch of leather a 
stone of nearly fifteen pounds’ weight may be raised. The power 
of flies and some other insects to walk on smooth ceilings with 
the feet upwards, or upon perpendicular panes of glass, depends 
on the same principle as the action of the sucker. Their feet are 
so constructed as to £>e capable of exhausting the air under their 
soles. There is an animal of the lizard kind which can thus walk 
with its back downwards, and the walrus and seal walk on walls 
of smooth ice.” 

Joe owned a canary, and Harry’s success in teaching Neb to 
draw water from a well set him to thinking how he could do some¬ 
thing like, and yet unlike it, with his bird. 

On this afternoon, while Uncle Frank was explaining to George 
the principle of the sucker, and while they were exercising on their 
stilts, an idea came to Joe, and he mentally exclaimed : 

“If I can teach Diogenes to do it, Harry’s Neb will be in the 
shade.” 

As soon as he reached home he went to his father’s bookcase and 
on looking found th6 book he wanted, which contained an illus¬ 
tration like this: (Fig. 23.) 

Having pored over this illustration until he understood the prin¬ 
ciple on which the pump worked, he started off in quest of a piece 
of alder, which is nbt a hard thing to find in a country place. He 
pelected a piece somewhat thicker than his finger and punohed the 


26 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

pith out. He now cut away one side of the alder at the end select¬ 
ed for the top to leave an upright like that in 
figure 23, to which the handle would be at¬ 
tached. 

The handle he made from a narrow bit of the 
side of a cigar box, through which he put a hole 
with an awl to admit a wire on which it was to 
work. 

How to make the two valves was what both¬ 
ered him most. It required a whole days’ 
thought before he could hit on a plan to 
accomplish this successfully. It was then done 
in this way : 

He made two balls of wood of a size to nicely 
fit the bore of the alder tube, which he had cut 
-to the length of four inches. In the bottom of 
ione of these balls he fastened a bit of lead that 
was just heavy enough to prevent its floating 
Fig. 23. on water. In the top of the other ball he secur¬ 
ed a piece of wire that was intended to answer the purpose of a 
rod to connect the valve and handle. 



He was now ready to do that part of the manufacture that was 
original with him. An inch from the bottom of the alder tube he 
cut through it, and took out a piece an eighth of an inch wide and 
twice that length, and just below it thrust two pins through the 
tube; the purpose of these pins was to support the ball with the 
lead attached, which answered the purpose of a valve. A similar 
slit was made in the alder an inch and a half above the other, and 
then both were covered by a bit of skin taken from a dried cod¬ 
fish, around which was wound a few yards of thread. 

He now dropped in from the top the ball to which the lead was 
fastened, which could only fall as far as the pins. The handle had 
already been fastened to the top of the arm left to support it, and 
all that was now necessary was to fasten the top of the wire con¬ 
necting-rod to the handle. A loop was easily bent in the end of 
the wire to receive the handle, and the pump was complete. But 
would it work ? That was now the important question. 

To his delight he found on trial that it did work, and very nicely 
at that. Indeed, there was no reason why it should not, for al¬ 
though it did not have valves lik t' e pump shown in figure 23, it 
had the slits in the side of the alder to answer the same purpose, 
permitting the passage of water when the lower ball was lifted, 
and preventing its running back when it was down. 

The pump completed, he now had to build a well. Following 
Harry’s example in this he took a tin box, only he fitted over the 
top of his a wooden cover, in the center of which was a hole for 
the pump. 

With a very slender bit of alder, from which the pith was duly 









THE &AKE AND MEND CLUB. 27 

punched, he made a spout, uuder which a little trough was placed 
to receive the water pumped. This finished his task, or at least the 
mechanical part of it; he might find the harder part to be the 
teaching of his bird to use it. 

The entire apparatus was placed on the inside of the cage, and 
the drinking cup removed. Waiting an hour, by which time 
Diogenes could be supposed to be thirsty, Joe then moved the han¬ 
dle of the pump up and down and water ran out into the trough, 
whereupon the canary helped himself to a drink. 

Joe experienced far more trouble in teaching his bird this trick 
than Harry had met with, but, possessing himself with patience, 
he succeeded at last. 

Some weeks had now passed since the forming of The Make 
and Mend Club, and the weather was becoming somewhat cooler, 
so that outdoor sports had to be brisk ones to keep the boys warm, 
and Uncle Frank initiated the boys into the mysteries of “Hop- 
Scotch,” at playing which they had most excellent fun. Fat as 
he was, Charley was the champion at this game, which is played 
as follows: 

“ Draw on the ground a figure similar to the cut in the margin. 
He who begins the game stands at the * which is two paces 
beyond “d,” and throws the shell into No. 1, 
which is ea^ed the first bed; he then steps with his 
right foot into that bed, and “scuffles,” (that is 
jerks) with his right foot, the shell out toward the*. 
He now throws the shell into No. 2; steps with his 
a foot into No. 1, and then, placing his right foot in 
No. 2, scuffles the sheilas before, and steps with one 
foot baok to No. 1, and thence out. He must now 
throw the shell into No. 3, and step into 1, 2 and 3, 
scuffle the shell out, and step back through the 
beds alternately. He must then go to 4, 5, and 6, in succession, 
and, at each throw, step into every previous bed with one foot 
only, and the like when coming back, reversing the numbers. 
After this, the player puts the shell into No. 1, hops into that bed, 
scuffles the shell into 2, and so on to 6, and back again in the 
same manner, bed by bed, to the *. Lastly, he places the shell 
into No. 1, puts his right foot into the bed, and scuffles the shell 
through all the beds, beyond the further line of 6, at one jerk. If 
the player who begins does all this correctly, he wins the game. 
If, however, he puts himself out, as hereafter described, his an¬ 
tagonist plays; if the latter puts himself out, without going 
through the game, the first takes up his own game, where it was 
when he failed; the second also does the like with his, if the first 
fails a second time. A player loses his innings in either of the fol¬ 
lowing cases: If he throw the shell into the wrong bed, or on the 
line, or put two feet into one bed, or a foot upon the lines, or do 
not scuffle the shell out of the bed in which it lies at the first at- 






28 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


tempt, or put his hands to the ground, or throw or scuffle the shell 
beyond line 4 c ’ (except in the last, or what is called 4 the long 
scuffle’) or outside the lines ‘ a ’ ‘ b;’or if, in going forward, he 
puts his leg into 3 before 2, or on the contrary when coming back; 
or if, when scuffling the shell through on the hop, he drives it be¬ 
yond the next bed in which it lies; or if, in any part of the game, 
when he has stepped into a bed, he take more than one hop in 
order to get near the shell; or if he hop after he has scuffled it; 
or, lastly, if, in the long scuffle, he do not, at one effort, send it 
with his foot from beyond the line of 4 c.’ But observe, that when 
he has cast the shell into No. 2, or any bed beyond it, he is not 
compelled to scuffle it out, that is beyond the line‘d,’at one 
effort.” 


CHAPTER V. 

BRACING WEATHER. 

There was visible a stir and bustle one Saturday afternoon in late 
October, in the little town in which resided the members of the 
Make and Mend Chub, that spoke of something unusual as being 
on the tapis. To be brief about it, something outside of the cus¬ 
tomary was on foot, and our young friends were interested in it. 

Just beyond the outskirts of the town there was a boarded inclos¬ 
ure embracing quite a few acres of ground, where every fall in 
September were held the county fairs. Toward the fair grounds 
on this Saturday afternoon a goodly number of the village people 
might have been seen moving in little groups of two and three. 

The occasion was a sort of merrymaking due to Uncle Frank’s 
good offices. The price of admission was twenty cents, and the 
proceeds were to go toward paying for a clock that was to be 
placed in the steeple of the principal church of the town. The 
programme was made up of sports and pastimes in which all of the 
village boys were invited to take part. The first thing was to be a 
stilt race, open to all, for a prize that Uncle Frank had donated. 

Of course our six boys were entered for the stilt race; in fact, 
there were no other competitors. 

For this race a short track had been arranged, measuring three 
hundred feet from starting point to the return. The first time 
around was to be on a clear track; the second was to be over hur¬ 
dles, stepping; the third time around they were to go over the 
same hurdles, jumping. 

There was a goodly crowd to witness the sports, and the boys 
were in high good humor because Uncle Frank’s experiment 
seemed likely to yield such handsome financial results. 

When the stilt race was called our six competitors came out of a 
little booth that had been erected for those who took part in the 
performances. They all wore knee-pants of corduroy, and long, 
dark-blue stockings. Their advept was greeted by a murmur of 
applause, 



2fi 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

At the word to get ready they toed a mark in front of the judge’s 
stand. There was a moment of breathless silence and then came 
the word: 

“Go!” 

Joe was soonest to respond and a laugh went up to see how great 
a lead one long step gave him. But one step was not the race, and 
Harry soon began to press him hard. Each of the boys had gone 
into the race determined to win it if possible, and each did his best 
to gain the victory. 

Shout after shout went up as the boys made “ long legs ” around 
the track, and it really was a funny sight to see them go; each 
time a foot was advanced the body would sink, and when the foot 
then in the rear was drawn up there was an appearance of their 
bodies shooting up into the air, to be followed by a sinking again 
as the foot was thrown forward once more. 

On account of his fleshiness, which as a consequence gave him a 
greater weight to carry, Charley was not calculated to make as 
good time as his leaner friends, and the first lap was not finished 
before he was, as a fact, hopelessly behind. But he would not see 
it in that light—there was no telling what might happen when the 
hurdles were reached, and he was well aware that the race does 
not always fall to the most swift. 

So he pegged away with might and main, encouraged by many a 
cheering word from those with whom his unvarying good nature 
made him a favorite. 

Close beside the track, however, stood one fellow who saw in 
Charley’s attempt to keep up with his competitors nothing beyond 
the rankest absurdity. He was one of those people who think they 
know about everything in this world that is worth knowing, and 
he called out. some advice to Charley on the first round, that, not 
being taken, he thought gave him license to shout, as Charley came 
near the second time: 

“ I say, old wash-tub, what are you trying to race with a yacht 
for?” 

Charley only cast on him a glance of contempt, and hurried on 
after his leaders. He saw reason to indulge a hope that victory 
might even now rest on him, for on this second round of the track 
care and skill as well as speed came into play, and the boys had all 
acknowledged that in skill and the art of balancing he was the best 
of all. 

The judge’s stand was passed in this order: 

Harry, Joe, George, Mark, Ben, and, in the distance, but closing 
up the gap, our fat friend Charley. 

Four hurdles were to be leaped. At the first one Joe stumbled 
and came near falling. It took him a couple of seconds to recover 
his balance, and when he got over the hurdle and took a new start 
he was last in the race save and except for Charley. He knew his 
chance of winning was now gone unless the other boys should meet 




30 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


with worse luck than he had, but he kept on thrusting out the 
long, spider-like appendages to his legs with a vim that promised 
to leave him not far behind when the finish was made. Close be¬ 
hind him came Charley, a look of determination on his face. 

“ Come on, Fatty, come on!” yelled the fellow who thought him 
a fit object for sport. “ If you’ll hurry up you will reach the line 
by next Christmas.” 

The speaker stood right beside one of the hurdles which Charley 
was now approaching. He had been warned away, but had scorn¬ 
fully rejected the idea that he did not know how to look out for 
himself. 

Clapping his hands on his knees, the ill-mannered fellow began 
to contort his body as though he found it difficult to express in a 
decent way the merriment within him; and again he shouted: 

“I say, Fatty, hurry up or you won’t get there by next Christ¬ 
mas.” 

“You over-dressed popinjay!” flashed angrily through Charley’s 
mind as he took in the fellow from the top of his high silk hat to 
the toe of his pointed shoes. “ You ape the manners and dress of 
a man, and you are not a day over seventeen.” 

Nearly every boy who reads this will recall some one answering 
to this description, and if he is a healthy, whole-hearted boy it will 
be with feelings of contempt, for one of this class is never known 
by any possibility to do anything, or join in any game likely to 
get a spot of dirt on him. 

It was unfortunate for the individual we are speaking of that he 
uttered his last words, for they drew Charley’s attention at a 
moment when he needed to pay it all to jumping the hurdle before 
him. Charley jumped!—-the toe of the stilt caught on the hurdle 
and he went nead over heels. The dandy saw him coming, but not 
in time to get out of the way, and Charley, after turning a somer¬ 
sault, sat squarely down on top of his hat, he having crouched quick¬ 
ly when he saw he could not save himself. As we have intimated 
Charley was not a feather-weight, and that hat just telescoped over 
the dandy’s eyes, barked the skin off his nose with its stiff rim, 
and covered his face from sight to the chin. At the same time he 
sat heavily down, Charley poised meanwhile on his head as nicely 
as though they were acrobats and performing some well practiced 
feat. With a moan the dandy rolled over, bringing the side of his 
head to the earth. Perhaps there was a little wickedness in the 
matter—there was certainly a gleam in Charley's eye, although he 
would not afterward admit anything—or it may have been that 
Charley was really too dazed by what had happened to remove his 
corpulent figure from the dandy’s head. He did not do so, and to 
all appearance knew nothing of the muffled prayers from beneath 
the mashed high hat, until Uncle Frank reached his side and taking 
him by the arm helped him to his feet. 

While Uncle Frank was inquiring if Charles was injured the 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 31 

dandy was struggling to his feet, plunging as he did so like a horse 
afflicted with the staggers. He succeeded in extricating himself 
from the hat just as Uncle Frank stepped toward him. A dis¬ 
mayed look came into his face as he gazed down on his soiled 
clothing, and when he had cast a glance in the direction of the 
stand for the spectators, and saw that a certain girl was laughing 
merrily, he slunk away wearing a decidedly crestfallen expression 
on his face. He considered himself quite a captivating fellow, and 
was very desirous of standing well in the estimation of this partic¬ 
ular miss, whom he credited with an admiration for himself* he 
would have been assured to the contrary could he have heard her 
shortly af terward^say to Charlie: 

“1 am so awful glad you were not hurt; but, oh! it did me so 
much good to see you mash that odious creature’s hat over his 
eyes.” 

Meanwhile the race had been finished. 

When near the finish, some surprising changes had taken place— 
Mark, who had stood fourth at the end of the second lap, had 
come forward with a rush and he won the race by a dozen feet, 
Harry taking second place. 

After an interval of ten minutes, there was a tug-of-war between 
two opposing forces, numbering ten each. A rope, some thirty 
feet in length, was provided, and was laid on the ground mid-way 
of a line marked with sawdust. Then each ten took hold of an 
end and began to tug away in the endeavor to pull the antagoniz¬ 
ing party over the sawdust line. There was a world of fun in 
watching them tug and pull and strain in the effort to do this. 
Half a dozen times it looked as if the fate of one party or the other 
was decided, but a good strong pull at the last moment would save 
them, and then getting the .best of the situation for the moment 
they would make a rush* and in less time than it takes to tell it, the 
other party would be digging their toes and heels into the ground 
to prevent being dragged across the line. It was ended at last, and 
the victors were rewarded with a cheer. 

Other games were now brought on, other feats performed, but as 
they had nothing especially to do with our Make and Mend Club, 
we shall say no more of them, unless it be that they yielded any 
quantity of merriment, and that as a result of the tournament a 
clock was soon thereafter in the steeple chiming forth the passing 
hours. 

It was not a great while after the tournament that there began 
to be felt in the air a touch of frostiness that told of winter not 
far away. 

A short while longer and then there was a suggestion, to be found 
in the ice on the roadside puddles, of skating that would soon be at 
hand. 

The first safe skating of the season came on Thanksgiving Day, 
and in the afternoon Uncle Frank went out on the ice with his 




32 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


numerous nephews. They all knew how to skate after a fashion, 
but Uncle Frank was able to teach them in a couple of hours more 
than they had ever learned before. Of course every boy knows 
how to put on a skate, but not every boy can learn to balance 
himself without some teaching; or he may be able to balance 
himself, but do it in a very awkward manner. Uncle Frank’s in¬ 
structions were valuable to the boys in that he was able to ex¬ 
plain how it should be done. 

Having agreed that they should take a lesson from Uncle Frank, 
he at first tried them on the “inside edge.” This consists in simply 
striking out with first one foot, then the other, the body being in¬ 
clined inward. All were able to do this satisfactorily. He then 
tried them on the “ outside edge,” or skating with the body in¬ 
clined outward. The ability to do this last is necessary before any 
fancy movements can be safely attempted or successfully accom¬ 
plished. 

When all the boys had shown themselves proficient in these two 
movements Uncle Frank taught them the “ Dutch Roll,” which 
the following figure explains. 

/<^\ 



Fig. 25. 

The marks it leaves on the ice are small segments of large circles, 
which enables a skater to diverge but very slightly from a straight 
line, and consequently accelerates his progress. 

“ In Holland,” said Uncle Frank, “ where this movement orig¬ 
inated, there are but few roads, the means of communication in 
the summer being by the numerous canals in boats, and in the 
winter, when the canals are frozen over, on skates. It is a common 
sight to see a man skating along loaded like a pack-horse, and 
larger bbdjes of goods are moved on sleds which they draw.” 

He now showed them the movement known as “ Making the 
Figure Eight.” 

It is done by merely finishing the circles, of which 
the segments of the “ Dutch Roll ” form a part. To 
produce it, when the skater comes to the finish of the 
stroke on the right foot, he should throw the left 
quite across it, which will make him bear hard on 
the outisde of the right skate, from which he must 
immediately strike. By completing the cirole in 
this manner on each leg, the figure subjoined is 
performed. 

“The figure of three” is performed principally 
Fig. 26. on the inside edge backwards. The head of the 3 
is formed of half a small circle on the heel of the outside edge; but 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


a** 



when the circle is nearly completed the skater leans suddenly for¬ 
ward and rests on the same toe inside, and a back¬ 
ward motion is produced, which develops the tail 
of the 3. The right legged figure is that of the 3 
in its natural position, and the figure made by 
the left leg is the same figure reversed; as per 
example. In these evolutions, the motion is not, 
strictly speaking, backwards, but rather sideways, 
as his face and body are always in the direction 
of his motions. (Fig. 27.) 

“ The back roll,” as it is termed, is performed by the skater mov¬ 
ing from one foot to the other alternately. His face is turned to¬ 
ward the left shoulder. The inside of the left skate bears on the 
ice, and the skater immediately strikes from it to the outside back 
of the other, by pressing it into the ice as forcibly as he can at the 
toe. The “ back cross roll ” is performed in a similar manner, the 
stroke being from the outside, instead of the skate. 


Fig. 27. 



elements of fancy skating, and when you are able to make them 
easily and gracefully you can make any of these figures,” starting 
with a flourish that the boys much envied the ability to do 
“This is the ‘ coiled serpent,’ performing the evolution as figure 
28; this is called the ‘ Dutch maze,’ figure 29; this is ‘ the fish,’ fig¬ 
ure 30; this is‘the kite,’ figure 31; this is a ‘true lover’s knot,’ 
figure 32; this figure is sometimes called ‘the leg-puzzler,’figure 
33; and, boys, while I could go on for a long while showing you 
new movements, these are the principal ones, and when you have 
learned them there will be very few who can teach you more.” 

The boys all voted that Uncle Frank was a most excellent skater, 
at which he only smiled. 

On the way home just before dark, he gave them a little good 
advice regarding skating which may with profit be repeated here. 
He said: 

“ First.—Always wear clothing that fits tightly, so that the Jwind 
will have no flying ends to drag against and thus impede your 
progress. 

“ Second.—Do not venture upon the ice without first being cer¬ 
tain that it is strong enough to bear all who are on it, and do not 
remain after it may have become so crowded as to be unsafe. 

“ Third.—Very smooth ice is not as good for skating as that 
which has a slightly granular surface. Should you at any time 










34 THB MAKE) AND MEND CLUB. 

find you have run upon a bit of rotten ice, do not stop, but strike 
out as rapidly as possible, so that your weight shall not long rest 
upon it. 

“ Fourth.—If you should ever be so unlucky as to fall into a 
hole, or otherwise get wet, take off your skates at once and start 
for home on a run, to keep your blood in circulation and prevent 
your becoming chilled. Perhaps other shelter may be closer, but 
wherever it may be get out of your wet clothing at once, and rub 
yourself briskly until dry. In this way you can avoid taking cold, 
and probably will experience no ill effects from your mid-winter 
bath.” 

There was any quantity of excellent skating after that, and our 
six boys had their share of it. 

The principle of The JJake and Mend Club being ever kept in 
force gave Mark Stedman not a little trouble a few days subse¬ 
quent to Thanksgiving. 

His older brother, Joe, owned a pair of club skates, while his 
were wood bottoms and fastened to the heel with a screw. 

Joe’s skating boots of the winter before were too tight for him, 
and a new pair were necessary, although the ones he had were in 
excellent condition. 

Mark also needed a new pair, so his father told him he could 
take Joe’s, they being large enough for him. 

Now then, these boots had iron plates in the heels for the pecu¬ 
liar fastening of the club skates, and the question at once arose as 
to how Mark was to make them answer without having a new 
pair of heels put on, the necessity of which his father laughed at. 

“What!” he exclaimed. “You, a member of The Make and 
Mend Club, unable to make the alteration yourself?” 

After this, Mark felt that to own that he could not do it, would 
not do, would cast a reflection on the club, and he determined 
to accomplish it somehow. He finally hit upon a plan and went 
to work. 

He first took the screws out of the heels of his skates, and putting 
one of them into the vise to hold it firmly, went at it with a file 
and rubbed the head down to about the shape and size of the 
“ catch ” on Joe’s club skates. When he had finished this task to 
his satisfaction, he returned the screws to the heels of his skates, 
only that he put them in upside down. There was a little nut 
with a thread inside that he put on the part of the screw that now 
projected below, and then with a file rubbed away the point to the 
nut. The result was that he now had a pair of skates that could 
be put on as readily and with as little trouble as a more costly pair 
of the club variety. 

His skates needing to be sharpened, he did this at the same time. 
For fifteen cents he purchased a rat-tail file at the hardware store, 
and with the skate firmly held in the vise he moved it truly up 
and down the gutters until the edges were sharp. He next ran a 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 35 

flat file along the sides of the steel to take off the “ wire,” and the 
job was done as well as though he had taken it to a hardware 
store. 

Joe at once came to him to do a job of sharpening for him on the 
club skates. 

“ In this matter I have the best of you,” laughed Mark. “ While 
I can sharpen my skates myself yoa will have to go to the store to 
have it done, and pay for it.” 

“Why so ?” 

“ Don’t you see that your skates are neither flat nor guttered. 
To try a round file on them would spoil them, and if you put a flat 
file on them they wouldn’t ‘ hold ’ on the ice. Your skates must 
be sharpened on the edge of a revolving wheel, which gives them 
the slight concavity yoa see.” 

“ Good for you!” cried Joe. “ Now I know something I did not 
before, for I’ve always gone to the store to have them sharpened 
and never thought any more about it. I’m glad you had occasion 
to study the matter out.” 

The boys had for several days been requesting Uncle Frank to go 
out on the ice with them again, and show them a couple of games 
of which they had heard him speak. He at last told them he 
would arrange to go along on the coming Saturday. 

True to his word, he went with them. On the way to the ice 
they went into a swamp and each cut for himself a stick more or 
less closely resembling that shown at figure thirty-four. 



Fig. 34. 

As a rule the best ones were found to be those in which the 
crooked part at the bottom was the root of a bush with a stout 
main shoot to be taken advantage of as a handle. 

“ These,” said Uncle Frank, “ are your shinny sticks. Not a very 
elegant name, I suppose, but a game that will not let you grow 
cold for want of activity if you play with as much spirit as I used 
to.” 

Having reached the ice and put on their skates, a straight stretch 
was selected where they would not interfere with anybody’s com¬ 
fort, and a line was made by passing frequently along and digging 
the heels in. This line was at one limit of the field, and another 
was now made at the other limit. Uncle Frank now called the 
boys about him at a point midway between the limits, and produc¬ 
ing a small wooden ball dropped it on the ice, saying : 

“ Now, boys, that ball is not to be touched by your hands, but is 
to be knocked out of one limit or the other by your shinny sticks, 


36 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


starting from here. Now then, divide yourselves up into two even 
parties, and I will give you the word.” 

This was speedily done. Charley and .Toe chose sides, Charley 
selecting one partner then Joe one. 

Being all ready, Uncle Frank cried out, “ Go for it!” and the two 
sides made a rush for the ball. Charley struck it first, taking it as 
he flew like the wind past it. 

“ Splendid!” roared Uncle Flank’s cheery voice. “ I like to see 
that! Keep it going! now is your chance, Joe! hit it hard and 
you will drive it out of bounds! Ha! missed it, by gracious!” 

There was a silence on the speaker’s part for a little, and then he 
cried: 

“ What are you trying to do, Ben ? If you want to stand on your 
head I can show you a more graceful way of doing it than that,” 
and Ben, limping when he got up, laughed at Uncle Frank’s good 
natured badinage, and soon was making another sally at the ball, 
his bruises forgotten. 

The honors were about even on this game; that is to say neither 
side gained so many more victories that there was anything to 
crow about. 

When they were tired of this, Uncle Frank showed them another 
game from which they had got not a little fun. It required swift¬ 
ness of movement on their skates rather than dexterity, although 
there was ample room for this also. 

“ I will be guard,” he said, as he stationed himself on a line mid¬ 
way between two boundaries. “Now then, you will skate across 
this line. Any one of you whom I may be able to touch shall come 
here to assist me in capturing the others.” ' 

Joe was the first to be captured, because he was reckless enough 
to suppose Uncle Frank could not skate such a very great deal 
faster than himself. Taking a position on the line with his uncle 
he laid in wait for the others to make an attempt to cross. 

At last all were captured save Charley, who gave more trouble 
than any other one of them had done. The way be would slide 
between them was a caution; and once, finding capture inevitable 
otherwise, he just gave himself a throw and went sliding along the 
ice on his stomach, and succeeded in crossing the line in safety. 
Four times he evaded the whole of them before capture resulted. 

“ Shall we try it over again ?” inquired Uncle Frank. 

“By all means.” 

“ Then Charley, being the last caught, must be guard this time 
to open the game.” 

“ Is that so?” and Charley’s face dropped. 

At the first time of crossing Ben broke one of his skate straps, 
and it seemed for a time as though his sport for the day was at an 
end. 

He began fishing in his pockets, as a boy will do when something 
unforseen happens, as if salvation will in some way be evolved 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 37 

from their depths. Iu this case he did not have so much as a piece 
of cord, and neither did any of the others. He took from his 
pockets various articles, among others a package of double-point¬ 
ed carpet tacks that he had got that morning for his mother, so 
that he would not have to stop on the way home. In these oarpet 
tacks was the saving of the sport he would have otherwise lost. 

A couple of these put through the strap, and the ends turned 
over and clinched, made the strap almost as good as new, and the 
game went on with great satisfaction to all concerned. 

The sport of skating was soon interfered with by a fall of snow. 
But, while it spoiled skating, unless the trouble were gone to of 
clearing the ice, it brought another sport that was quite as ex- 
hilerating—coasting down hill. 

George Walden was the only one of the boys who did not own a 
sled, and he was quite blue when he realized that according to 
the rules of The Make and Mend Club he would be obliged to go 
without a sled unless he made one, for the other boys were unan¬ 
imously of the opinion that a sled came within the range of the 
things that could be made. 

On going to Uncle Frank with his trouble he got some consola¬ 
tion, as well as practical advice, and he was soon at work, deter¬ 
mined to construct a sled that should beat every one of those be¬ 
longing to the others. 

We will tell you what to do if you want to make a similar sled, 
describing exactly what George did: 

First, determine what kind of lumber you are going to use; if 
pine is selected it must be an inch and a quarter thick; but of any 
hard lumber an inch will be plenty heavy and at the same time 
more durable. 

Get out two pieces four feet long and eight inches in height. 

Make a mark ten inches from the ends selected for the front, and 
another seven inches from the rear ends. 

Make a curve near the shape of that in Figure 35, and with a 
narrow bladed saw cut away the waste wood, after which shape 
and saw out the stern pieces. This will give you two sides like the 
following: 

- 


Fig. 36. 

Now get out two pieces of hard wood, two inches wide, an inch 
thick, and fourteen in length. Supposing your side pieces to be an 
inch thick, you will now mark that distance from both ends of 
each crossbar. Take up one of them, and, having stood it 
on its edge, saw into it half an inch; turn it over and saw 
the other edge the same; do the same with the three remain¬ 
ing ends. Now draw a line from the inner part of the saw 



Fig. 35. 








38 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


cut (see dotted line in Fig. 36), and follow it with a saw, which will 
result in making the ends look like this: 

k - " i/ri\r 

Fig. 37. Fig- 38. 

At a point twelve inches from the nose of your side pieces make 
a plain mark across the edge of the material; half an inch further 
on make another. Measure an inch and make a third, and half an 
inch beyond that a fourth mark ; make a diagonal line between 
the two (see dotted line in Fig. 38), and saw an inch deep on the 
dotted lines. Get rid of the bit of wood, and smooth the bottom 
with a knife, or with a chisel, if you are so fortunate as to have one 
to work with, and the result will be shown at Fig. 39. 

ZH7 \ZZ 

Fig. 39. 

Beginning at a point four inches from the top of the stern, 
make four more marks in the order described and saw out a piece 
as before. Repeat with the other side-piece. If you have done 
your work work truly you will find that your crossbars fit nicely 
into the dovetailed cut. A couple of two-inch screws driven down 
through the crossbar into the sides will make the sled perfectly 
stiff; but for a finish you may make four pieces like Fig. 40. 

\ - t The dimensions are three inches in length, one in 

Fig. 40. width, and half an inch in thickness; these are to be 
secured by brass screws above the joints. 

You are now ready for the top board, which may be of half inch i 
pine, and is to be three feet six inches long and twelve wide. Find 
the middle of one end ; .have a lead-pencil handy with a cord tied 
to it just just above the marking point; put the pencil at one cor¬ 
ner of the board, then gather up all the slack of the cord, holding 
which firmly you move the pencil, which, after describing a semi¬ 
circle, will run off at the corner opposite where you started. Again 
find the middle of the board, twelve inches from the bottom, and 
holding the cord as before make another sweep, which will give 
you a reverse curve at the rear and add much to the appearance of 
your sled. 

It now only remains to iron the sled to have it completed. This 
you will hardly be able to do yourself, although you certainly 
should be to do all that has preceded. So take it to a blacksmith, 
and tell him you want a pair of running irons put on, and tell him 
they must be round. 



Fig. 41. 

For this he will select a medium weight iron rod, the ends alone 


















THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 39 

of which he will flatten, that screw-holes may be made by which 
to secure the irons to the wood. When the irons are on they will 
stand out from the side pieces, as shown in Fig. 41. 

The spring thus obtained you will find to greatly assist the speed 
of your sled. Tfalf-round irons will be nearly as good, if the round 
ones for any reason cannot be had. With this sled you need have 
no fear of trying the “ mettle ” of the “ king of the hill.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

PLANS FOR NEXT SUMMER. 

One Decehaber evening the parents of these six boys were all to¬ 
gether at Mr. Walden’s house. The boys were all there as well, 
and held their.usual Make and Mend Club meeting. 

After entering the dining-room, and before the meeting was 
called to order, there was not a little badinage about the sled that 
George had made. 

“A tub ” the other boys called it, but George only smiled know¬ 
ingly ; he did not say, as he could have done, that it had been 
finished early enough for him to have tried it since dark. Let 
us take space to say right here that “the tub’’was an animal 
that the other boys found had surprisingly swifi feet, and that on 
the half mile hill it could givo them fifty yards start and then 
reach the bottom first. 

The amount of business to be transacted at this meeting was 
rather slender, as none of the boys had recently done anything to 
draw on their fathers’ pocketbooks for. 

After the worthy president had declared carried the movement 
to adjourn, the boys fell to discussing various matters, and some¬ 
how, nobody could tell the exact way of it, they began to speak 
of what each intended doing the next summer. 

“Wouldn’t it be just jolly if we could all go off together next 
summer!” exclaimed Joe, as if struck by a sudden idea. “Say, 
boys, I wonder if it couldn’t be arranged somehow? Wouldn’t 
you like it?” 

“I just guess so,” fell enthusiastically from the lips of Mark. 
“Let’s talk to our folks and see what they think of the idea.” 

The mothers of the boys looked dubious when the matter was 
suggested, but their fathers promised to take it into considera¬ 
tion. 

A decision was given the boys at the next meeting. 

Young as Uncle Frank was, only twenty-seven, he had retired 
from business, having been fortunate enough to make sufficient 
money for all his needs, which were of the most simple character; 
that he would never marry was an accepted fact among all who 
knew him, hence he was contented to spend what he had without 
fear for the future. 

Now, during this week that intervened, the fathers had con- 






40 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

versed with Uncle Frank, and an arrangement had been perfected 
with him that he would accompany the boys on a camping out 
expedition the next summer. 

Of this conclusion the boys were informed, but to it was added 
the condition that they should in the meantime make or save 
enough money to pay expenses. 

The boys did not look at this condition as any hardship, or as in 
any wise diminishing their chances of going. After this was de¬ 
cided on, the boys scarcely ever met without their expedition be¬ 
coming a subject of conversation. 

At once the boys began casting about them for ways in which 
to swell their treasury, it having been unanimously agreed to that 
the funds of The Make and Mend Club should be kept intact for 
expenses. 

Perhaps the most studious and practical of our boys was George 
Walden, and in the first week following the resolution to each do 
all in his power to swell the funds of the club, he put into it the 
handsome sum of five dollars and forty cents. It was done in this 
way: 

Going into the hardware store of the town he bought a pair of 
scissors for twenty-five cents, selecting one from a style of which 
the proprietor had a great many. 

“You would know this scissors if I brought it back to you, Mr. 
Fowler, wouldn’t you?” 

“ I certainly would. But why do you ask ?” 

On this point, however, George did not satisfy him, but two days 
later handed Mr. Fowler a pair of scissors, with the question: 

“ Do you recognize them ?” 

“ They look like the pair you bought, only these have gilt 
handles. Are they the same ?” 

“Yes,sir. How much more would you consider them worth 
now than they were before?” 

“ They wouldn’t really be worth any^more, although they prob¬ 
ably would sell for a larger price.” 

“That is the kind of worth I meant. The holidays are close at 
hand now, and don’t you think a good many pairs of these gilded 
scissors could be disposed of?” 

“ I do, that’s a fact; and they are practically dead stock in their 
present condition.” 

“ How much more could you get for them do you suppose ?” 

“ Twenty-five cents a pair.” 

“Then you could pay me fifteen cents for gilding them, and 
make a larger profit than at present at that ?” 

“Ah! that’s the idea is it? Well,” after a moment’s thought, 
“ it’s a bargain. Here are a dozen pairs that you can take right 
along with you, and if they are done as nicely as these you show 
me, you shall have more of them to gild.” 

George hurried home with the scissors and made his preparations 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 4] 

for gilding them, which he accomplished by suspending them in a 
solution of cyanide of gold dissolved in pure water. 

This solution he prepared by dissolving the metal in aqua-regia, 
composed of one part nitric, and two of muriatic acid. Of course 
he was very careful in handling these highly poisonous acids. 
Teu or fifteen grains of gold, to an ounce and a half of the aqua- 
regia, were the proportions. 

The acid being evaporated, the salt which is called the chloride of 
gold was dissolved in a solution, made by mixing an ounce of the 
cyanuret of potash with a pint of pure water. The cyauuret of 
potash was decomposed and a cyanide of gold remained in solu¬ 
tion. About twenty grains of the chloride of gold is a proper 
quantity for a pint of the solution. The cyanuret of potash, and 
the chloride, or oxide of gold, may be bought at the apothecaries. 

Having prepared the solution he adopted the most simple method 
of gilding, which was to pour a quantity of the solution into a 
glass jar and suspend in it the handles of the scissors to be gilded, 
placing them into oontact with a piece of bright zinc, when the 
process of depositing the gold at once began. No other battery, 
except that formed by the zinc, and the metal which receives the 
gold is required. The zinc, at the point of contact, had to be 
bright and well fastened to the scissors, which he did by means of 
tying with strings. Finding that warmth would hasten the pro¬ 
cess, he put the glass jar into a large pan of hot water. But, when 
the gold began to deposit on the zinc as well, he was in a quandary 
about what to do. In his dilemma he went to Uncle Frank, and 
having first pledged him to secrecy, told him what he was doing, 
and asked his advice in regard to the deposit on the zinc. Uncle 
Frank had a remedy at his fingers’ ends, as it were, and the cure he 
suggested—which was to put shellac over the zinc save at the point 
of contact—worked like a charm. 

Mr. Fowler was highly delighted at the improved appearance 
and salability of his scissors, and he gave George more of them to 
gild, so that as we have said he turned into the treasury the sum of 
five dollars and forty cents net profit. 

Boys are naturally imitative and George’s success in this semi- 
scientific process gave the minds of all the others a turn in that 
direction. It was the means of their learning a great deal that, 
even if taught at school, would not have fastened itself on their 
minds half as firmly. 

One little incident that happened on an evening early in January 
will illustrate this. In some way the conversation turned on 
illuminating gas, and one of the boys asked a question. Uncle 
Frank on hearing it said: 

“ Hold on with the explanation—let’s try an experiment instead.” 

To procure a common clay tobacco pipe was not a difficult mat¬ 
ter. This Uncle Frank filled with coal that he first reduced to a 
powder. He now closed up the top of the bowl with some putty 


42 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

that the glaziers who had reeently been at work in the house had 
left behind them. 

In the room was a self-feeding stove, with doors that could be 
taken down. Displacing one of them Uncle Frank laid the bowl 
of the pipe on the red-hot coals inside, after which he arose and 
turned out the lights in the room. 

“ Now, boys,” he said as they gathered round him by the stove, 
“ I will explain what takes place. You saw me put into the pipe a 
little coal, in which you know there is gas as it sometimes is driven 
out into our rooms by the wind blowing down the chimney. Well, 
now that coal in there ignites and the gas is driven off by such 
vent as it can find, which in this case is the pipe-stem. In the gas- 
houses they have means for removing the naptha and other pro¬ 
ducts arising in the course of destructive distillation, which if we 
could have them, would be connected with the bowl of the pipe. 
Barring this, we have a miniature gas-house of our own here, and 
shall soon be burning our own gas.” 

“ How will that be, Uncle Frank ?” 

“ Be patient a minute or so and you shall see,” was the reply. 

They were not kept waiting long, for the fire in the stove was a 
rousing one and the clay pipe was soon at a red heat. Presently 
Uncle Frank struck a match and touched it to the end of the pipe 
stem, and at once a tiny blue flame was seen, which presently 
grew larger and stronger so that objects in the entire room were 
visible. 

“ I don’t think you would find trouble in doing it yourselves 
now that you have seen it done,” Uncle Frank said, as the dying 
away of the flame announced that the gas had been all used up. 

“ I am sure I could do it!” came from Mark. 

“And 1!” 

“And I!” 

“ 1 should have a very poor opinion of the boy who could not.” 

. For fear that a pipe might be broken two of them had been 
brought into the room. That one which had not been used was 
lying on the table. Harry picked it up, and after being busy a 
few minutes, produced a toy over which there was a good deal of 
merriment. 

He had taken a small piece of cork that was nearly round, and 
had so touched it up with ink that it looked like a Chinaman in a 
squatting position, his legs crossed tailor-fashioned, his arm 
folded, and his little pig-eyes gazing blankly at nothing. Through 
this little figure he had stuck two pins at right angles to each other, 
leaving the heads projecting on one side and the points on the other. 
One pin had been thrust through it from the top of the head 
downward, and the point of this pin he now introduced into the 
end of the pipe stem. Placing the bowl to his lips, the stem 
being perpendicular, he gave a little puff and up went Mr. China¬ 
man into the air, and as he continued to blow Mr. Chinaman turn- 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 43 

ed a somersault, then another, still another, and, had Harry’s wind 
and patience and muscle held out, Mr. Chinaman might have been 
turning somersaults until now. 

One after the other of the boys had a “ try ” at this novel little 
thing. They would not have been like the average young Ameri¬ 
can had not each wanted to show himself able to keep Mr. China¬ 
man going the longest without aeoident befalling him, and a trial 
was had to determine the question at issue. 

Victory fell to Charley’s lot, but he had hardly began to make 
merry at the expense of the others when his joy was moderated by 
Uncle Frank’s inquiring in a droll voice: 

“ What is there, Charley, to be proud of in being a big blower?” 

At first Charley was inclined to resent Uncle Frank’s speech, for 
the other boys laughed heartily of course, but soon he was able to 
join in the laugh himself. But he said, nevertheless: 

“ I’ll remember that, Uncle Frank, and I am not Charley Am- 
berly if I don’t manage to pay you tit for tat. If I should catch 
you around some time when I am on my stilts I may sit down on 
you!” 

Uncle Frank made a wry face, then said : 

“ Spare me, Charley. If you are unforgiving, however, give me 
time enough to make a will and leave you out of it.” 

“ Better not try any verbal sparring with Uncle Frank,” Char¬ 
ley’s fatb v laughingly said. 

Joe was the next one of The Make and Mend Club to do some¬ 
thing for which a reward was allowed. Latterly their house had 
been overrun with mice, as they did not keep a cat on account of 
having a bird, whose life would have been imperiled by the pres¬ 
ence of one. For this same reason they did not wish to get a cat 
now; it would not do either to poison the mice, as they would die 
in the house; and yet they must be got rid of; now how was 
it to be accomplished ? 

Joe solved the problem with a “ Figure 4 ” trap. 

Here is a description by means of which you can make one just 
the same if you wish : 

Get a couple of feet of a narrow strip of wood, that may be a 
quarter of an inch thick and a trifle broader. Then make, first, 
an upright piece, three or four inches high, which must be square 
at the bottom, and a small piece bo cut off the top to fit the notch 
in “b,” (see “a” in the margin.) The second piece must be of the 
the same length as the first, with a notch cut across nearly at the 
top of it, to fit the top of “ a ” and the other end of it trimmed to 
catch the notch in “ c,” (see “ b.”) The third piece should be Iwice 
as long as either of the others; a notch, similar to that in “b” 
must be cut in one end of it, to catch the lower end of “ b.” Hav- 


44 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 



ing proceeded thus far, you must put the pieces together, in order 

to finish it, by adding another notch in 
“ c ” the exact situation of which you will 
discover as follows: Place “ a ” as it is in 
the cut, then put the notch of “b ” on the 
thinned top of “a,” keep it in the same 
inclination as in the cut; then get a tin 
c box three or four more inches square, one 

Fig. 42. end of which must rest on the ground, 

and the center of the edge of the other on the top of “b.” You 
will now find the thinned end of “b” elevated by the weight of 
the tin box; then put the thinned end of it in the notch “ c,” and 
draw “b ” down by it, until the whole forms a resemblance of the 
figure 4; at the exact place where “ c ” touches the upright, cut a 
notch, which, by catching the end of “ a ” will keep the trap to¬ 
gether. You may now bait the end of “ c ” with a piece of cheese; 
a mouse, by nibbling the bait, will pull down “ c,” the other pieces 
immediately separate, and the tin box will at once drop and the 
mouse will be caught alive. 

Joe presented a claim at the next meeting for having constructed 
a practical mouse-trap. His claim was admitted to be a proper 
one, and each of the honorary members at once paid in his twenty- 
five cents to the treasurer of The Make and Mend Club. 

During the evening Uncle Frank was drawn into telling of some 
of his experiences abroad, and it is hardly necessary to say the 
boys were interested listeners. 

A description that Uncle Frank gave of a famous institution of 
learning in Germany was of special interest to his young friends, 
particularly that portion which treated of a branch of the institu¬ 
tion devoted to general scientific instruction, to render which of a 
practical nature a great many instruments of various kinds were 
employed. 

Each of the boys determined to make one of the articles de¬ 
scribed by their uncle, although Mark was the only one who 
grasped an idea clearly enough to afterward put it into shape. 

“ If I can’t make a rain-guage like Uncle Frank described then 
The Make and Mend Club should expel me,” Mark muttered to 
himself. “ However, I think it would be just as wise not to say 
anything to the other fellows, for they might take to guying me; 
and, to say the least, that is not very pleasant.” 

He proceeded in the following way to make his rain-guages. 
Going to the tinsmiths he got two feet of ordinary tin pipe, then 
had cut out of tin a circular base six inches in diameter, on 
which the pipe was to be fastened in a perpendicular position. He 
now had a small round piece taken out of the bottom of the pipe 
for the purpose of admitting a faucet, after which the pipe was 
soldered fast to the base. 

At the drug store he obtained for a few cents two feet of glass 






THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


tube, one end of which was fastened into the shank of the faucet, 
a tight joint being made by means of putty. The upper end of the 


glass tube was left open, and was given greater 
firmness by a little strip of tin bent around it, both 
ends of which were soldered fast to the tin pipe, as 
may be seen in the drawing, figure 43. He next had 
the tinman fasten to the top of the tube a flaring 
receiver to catch the rain that fell, this being ex¬ 
actly double the area of the pipe proDer. 

This completed his rain-guage, save for a grad¬ 
uated scale to note how much water had fallen. 
This he made out of paper, in this way: He laid a 
narrow strip of linen writing paper on the table be¬ 
fore him, and then with a pencil made light marks 




Fig. 43. every two inches until the top of it was reached; he 
then took a ruler and pen and ink and made these marks very 
plain and distinct; now he lettered at the first mark “1 inch,” at 
the second “ 2 inches,” and so on to the top of the scale. 

It will be noticed that he lettered a space of two inches as“l,” 
the reason for which will be understood when you consider that 
the receiver being twice as large as the pipe, that the pipe would 
fill at the rate of two inches for each one that entered the receiver; 
and as the water would always stand at the same height in the 
glass tube as in the pipe it was necessary to have the quantity 
registered one-half the actual depth in the pipe to show what had 
really fallen. 

Having given the tin pipe a good coat or two of red paint he al¬ 
lowed it sufficient time to dry and then pasted on his paper scale. 
Perhaps you think mucilage would not stand the weather and that 
his scale would soon come off. It did not, all the same, and for this 
reason : He gave the paper at least four good coats of transparent 
varnish, which was impervious to water, and yet through which 
the figures could be distinctly read. 

It may be added that between each two-inch mark he made 
other lines to represent the intermediate quantities, and that his 
rain-guage was really an instrument of practical worth with ^hich 
he could guage the amount of water falling in any rain to the 
tenth part of an inch. 

While he thought his rain-guage a very ingenious thing for him 
to have made, he was doubtful if he was entitled to the customary 
reward. However, it was speedily demonstrated to the satisfac¬ 
tion of all that it was a useful article. It was proved in this wise: 

His father was proprietor of a mill half a mile away, and when 
he returned home one evening it was raining very hard, as it had 
been doing for some two or three hours. At the supper table he 
remarked: 

“ If I thought that it would rain like this I would go over to the 
mill and turn the water over the dam.” 







46 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


“ Is there any danger of the pressure being too great on the 
race?” inquired Mark. ■ 

“"Yes. It does not take more than a couple of inches of rain to 
destroy many thousand dollars worth of property for me unless an 
outlet is provided.” 

Mark’s rain-guage was up on the roof at the time, and about ten 
o’clock he went up to look at it, and finding it registered a great 
deal more than his father believed had fallen, he took- it down to 
show him. 

At once his father sprung to his feet and hurried away to the 
mill, reaching there just in season to save his property. Had he 
been half an hour later there was no question that great damage 
would have resulted. 

Of course, after so practical a demonstration of its value the 
rain-guage was voted to be entitled to the customary reward, and 
the treasury of The Make and Mend Club was the richer by the 
sum of one dollar, besides a donation Mark’s father made for the 
benefit of the fund for next summer’s expedition. 


CHAPTER VII. 

PRACTICAL AND INTERESTING. 

The Saturday following the good result of having at hand an 
accurate rain-gauge such as Mark had made, being a day too 
stormy for the boys to go out, they gathered in the workshop; 
this, it will be remembered, was located in a barn. It was tnade 
comfortable for them to work in by a stove which their fathers 
had put in conjointly, but in the use of which they were of course 
required to exercise caution, lest the barn should be set on fire. 

Harry went to work on a pantagraph, George on a kaleido¬ 
scope, Joe wanted to study out the principle on which a 
siphon works, while Ben busied himself on a sand-box, an ingen¬ 
ious toy that will be described further on. 

Taking up the pantagraph first, we will tell you how one may 
be made, closely following Harry’s various movements: 

You will commence by getting out four flat sticks, half an inch 
wide, and as thin as can be safely worked. If you live near a 
molding factory or carpenter shop, you can save some trouble by 
buying what is known as a “strap-molding;” if the carpenter 
cannot furnish you with this (which comes in walnut, as well as 
pine), you may ask him for “ stop-beading ” strips, made use of for 
the slides in which window sashes work. The strips want to be 
sixteen inches long, all exactly the same. With a rule measure an 
inch from the end of each stick, making a pencil dot to mark the 
spot; when all are done, take a gimlet and make a hole where 
each dot was, being very careful not to split the wood, the thin¬ 
ness of which makes that an event not unlikely to happen if you 
do not proceed with caution. 

At a hardware store you can get half a dozen half-inch copper 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 4? 

rivets, which come complete with a little ring that slides over the 
end. Now take up two of your prepared sticks, lapping the end 
of one over the other, bringing two holes in a line. Have one of 
the rivecs setting on its head ; holding the two sticks firmly, press 
the rivet up through the holes. Then slip on the little ring, press 
it down moderately tight on the wood, and then holding all with 
the left hand, taKe a tack-hammer in the right hand and bring the 
wedge end down lightly on the rivet, thus spreading the soft cop¬ 
per and making a secure fastening. Do not strike too hard—let 
the hammer touch lightly but as rapidly as you wish. 


F 



Get out a block now that shall be, say an inch thick, and about 
two inches square. To this fasten the free end Of one of your 
hinged sticks. 

You have two sticks as yet unjoined, and we propose now to 
show you how to fasten them together. Cut two washers out of 
leather—they need not be very large. Pass a common screw 
through one of these washers; after that, bring together the ends 
of the unjoined sticks and put the screw through the holes of 
both; now make a small opening in the second washer and put it 
on by turning it around, permitting it to follow the thread of the 
screw until it “ brings up ” by coming into contact with the wood. 
As you will perceive, the point of the screw is left projecting, the 
use of which will presently be explained. 

You are now ready to put the various parts of your pantagraph 
together, which a brief study of the accompanying diagram will 
enable you to do without trouble. 


48 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


“A,” “b”are the two sticks you first joined together. “C,” 
“ d ” are those joined by a screw with washers. Join the two 
sets of sticks as shown in the diagram, finding the exact center 
with a rule, as otherwise the pantagraph will not produce an 
exact copy. The fastening at “g,” “h ” may be the copper rivets 
or a couple of ring-screws, as you please. 

Sharpen a lead pencil nicely and fit it in the end of the arm “ a,” 
at point marked “ k,” where you have already bored a hole. 

You are now prepared for work. If you have a photograph of 
your father or mother at hand, place it in front of you at a table; 
the pantagraph is to be in the position shown in the diagram. The 
projecting screw-point at “ e ” is known as the tracer. Place the 
point on the line of the right shoulder of the photographed per¬ 
son, and with the left hand move the tracer along the outline. 
The right hand is meanwhile steadying the pencil, which is drawing 
on a blank sheet of paper placed beneath it a reproduction of the 
picture you are following with the tracer, only it is twice the 
size. 

In proportion as you trace accurately will you obtain good re¬ 
sults, and granting you are careful, you will be surprised to find 
how truthfully the pantagraph reproduces. 

Should you wish to reverse the size, that is reduce the picture 
you are copying, it can be done by putting the tracing point at 
“ k ” and the pencil at “ e ” 

Again, you can obtain a different result by placing the tracer at 
“ 1 ” and the block at “ e.” 

The pantagraph was invented nearly three hundred years ago, 
and is made practical use of by architects and artists, the latter 
using it when they wish to get correct outlines of drawings they 
may wish to reproduce. The pantagraph used by architects is 
often an elaborate affair, made of brass and polished highly, and 
generally have arms of about twenty inches in length. 

Harry finished his pantagraph by the middle of the afternoon, 
and before he went to bed that night had reproduced a picture in 
outline of his father of double the original size. Harry made an 
outline picture only, but later practice enabled him to shade as 
well as outline pictures of all kinds. 

While Harry was busily engaged on his pantagraph George was 
making a kaleidoscope, and once again will we describe how it 
was done without following his every movement. You can manu¬ 
facture one as good as the one he made if you will faithfully fol¬ 
low these directions: 

Take three strips of ordinary window glass, provided it be free 
from blemishes or air bubbles, about one and a quarter inches 
broad and ten in length. Cover one side with black Japan var¬ 
nish. When this is dry, carefully clean the unvarnished sides, and 
lay their edges together as in figure 45. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


49 


Have ready a piece of medium weight manilla 
paper about twelve inches in length and eleven in 
width. Place your triangular form of glass on this 
and roll it tightly and firmly, securing the end with 
good mucilage. A triangular piece of glass is now 
slipped into one end of the manilla paper, which 
projects half an inch at each end; this glass should 
be the exact size of the tube you have already made. 

Now cut away all the manilla paper that projects 
except the outer wrap; this last will now be folded Fig. 45. 
down against the glass and pasted there, a small round hole being 
afterward cut in of about the size of a pea. This is the hole to 
which the eye is afterward to be applied. 

Fit a second triangular piece of glass in the other end, but do 
not turn down the paper. Take some mucilage and fasten a thin 
bit of wood at each of the three sides of the glass. Then, holding 
the nearly completed kaleidoscope upright, drop in on this glass 
half a dozen beads of various colors, or fragments of colored glass 
will do just as well. A third triangular piece of glass, this time 
ground glass, is now needed. Dropped down inside the paper, it 
will enclose the beads or other objects in a pocket; it will not rest 
on them, as you have guarded against this by the bits of wood you 
secured with mucilage. You now cut away all but the outer 
wrap of the paper, and trim that so close that it laps not more 
than a quarter of an inch on the triangular piece of ground glass 
to which some carefully applied mucilage will hold it. 

Turning the bottom part toward the light, and applying your 
eye to the little hole in the oth^r end, you will see a new and 
pleasing figure every time the kaleidoscope is turned. 

If you are in trouble as regards the ground glass, you need not 
be so long. 

You can make it yourself if you will scatter some fine sand on a 
smooth surface, and then move a piece of plain glass rapidly and 
evenly over it for a few minutes. 

Nearly all the patterns for carpets are delineations of kaleido¬ 
scopic figures transferred to paper by a draughtsman, who suc¬ 
ceeds in catching the shapes, although he cannot hope to repro¬ 
duce the brilliancy of coloring that is brought out by each new 
turn. 

It may be interesting to know that, supposing the instrument to 
contain twenty beads, and you made ten changes in a minute, it 
would take the inconceivable space of 462,880,899,576 years and 360 
days to go through the number of possible combinations. Twelve 
beads, with ten changes a minute, would require ninety-one 
years and forty-nine days to make all the combinations. 

Meanwhile Joe was not idle. 

Bending a piece of lead-pipe to a shape somewhat resembling 
the letter U, Joe filled it with water, then placed the shortest arm 







50 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

in a full vessel. On now removing: his finger from the end of the 
larger arm, the vessel began emptying itself of the water it con¬ 
tained. 

While Joe understood in a general way that the action of a 
siphon is the result of atmospheric pressure, a few words of ex¬ 
planation from Uncle Frank, who dropped in casually, gave him a 
better understanding of the principle involved. 

Uncle Frank, drawing a rude picture of the siphon at work, 
said: 

“ The reason why the water flows from the tube, ‘ a,’ and, conse¬ 
quently, ascends through the other part, is, 
that there is a greater weight of the fluid 
from ‘b’ to ‘a,’ than from‘c’to ‘ b,’be¬ 
cause the perpendicular height from ‘ b ’ to 
‘a’ is the greatest. The weight of the 
water from‘b’ to ‘a,’ falling downward 
by its gravity, tends to form a vacuum, 
or void space, in that leg of the tube; but 
the pressure of the atmosphere on the water 
in the vessel, constantly forces the fluid up 
the other leg of the tube, to fill the void 
space, and thus the stream is continued as 
long as any water remains in the vessel.” 

Ben was no less successful in making his sand-box, or toy. In 
a colored picture book, given him years before, was a picture of a 
rustic wind-mill. 

He first cut out the page, and placing this on a smooth board he 
put a tack in each corner to assist in holding it securely, and then 
with a sharp penknife he cut out the “ sails,” or arms that move. 

Placing white paper at the back of the opening just left, he took 
a pencil and perfected the outlines he had destroyed in cutting 
out the arms. 

With some water color paints he now went over the white 
paper, and restored the mill to passable appearance. 

He next mounted the sails on bristol board, which being then 
cut to leave a thickness behind the sails, made them tolerably 
stiff. 

Had he so desired he could have made them still more stiff, by a 
second thickness of the bristol board. 

He now made a shallow box, the length and breadth of which 
corresponded to his picture, which chanced to be five and a half 
by six inches. This box can be made of heavy pasteboard, but 
Ben made a better job of it by using material obtained from a 
couple of empty cigar boxes. 

He now took a strip of pasteboard five inches long and bent it to 
look like a letter V, the tops being very wide apart. In the center 
of the angle formed by bending he punctured a small hole. This 


B 





THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 51 

V-shaped piece he now secured with mucilage into the box as rep¬ 
resented at “a,” figure 47. 



Fig. 47. 


He next took a large spool and put into it a number of saw-cuts, 
lengthwise, down through the beveled rim that retains the thread. 
Into these slits he inserted bits of cardboard, the exact length of 
the spool and wide enough to come up even with the outer edge of 
the beveled rim. 

Into each end of the spool he now fitted a cork just large enough 
to fill the hole, into the center of each of which an opening was 
previously made by passing through a wire. The pressure of course 
closed the aperture in the corks, but it still existed, and permitted 
the pushing through of a hair-pin like “ d,” “ e,” figure 48. 

He had pasted the view—minus the sails—to 
the front of his box. By this time it was dry 
enough to handle, and finding the exact center 
on which the sails should work he made a hole 
through that side of the box with a brad-awl. 
He now took a strip of wood, “ c,” figure 47> 
Fig. 48. and after putting into it a hole for the end of 
hair-pin “d,” figure 48, he fastened this with glue to the back of 
the box. 


& 


He was now ready to insert the sand-wheel. The sand-tray 
/“a,” figure 47) had been so placed that its future contents would 
fall on the flanges of the sand-wheel, the action of which would 
much resemble that of one driven by water. 










52 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


He had put about a pint of sand into a tin pan, and set it before 
the stove to dry. This he now sifted so as to reserve none but the 
finest portion of it, and then filled the sand-tray. As the sand 
sifted down on the wheel the sails of his mill (fastened to the end 
of wire “ e,” figure 48), began to revolve. 

Ben was of course highly delighted with his success, and the other 
boys thought it a very pretty idea prettily worked out. 

If any of our young friends should wish to make a toy like the 
one described, and be puzzled to obtain a subject he can, by 
making and employing a pantagraph, reproduce the following 
picture, which represents that used by Ben. 



Fig. 49. 

At the next meeting of the club the claims of the pantagraph 
and kaleidoscope were held to be well taken, and each of the 
honorary members contributed fifty cents to swell the fund of the 
treasury of The Make and Mend Club. 








THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


53 


CHAPTER VIII. 

STILL AT WORK. 

The success of the rain-guage had bred au idea in Harry’s mind 
that resulted iu his making a hydrometer, which is au instrument 
made use of to determine the amount of moisture contained iu the 
atmosphere. 

Harry’s hydrometer was not as complex as many, nor did it look 
as scientific, but it was none the less accurate. If you would like 
to expend a little ingenuity on a hydrometer, the following should 
be sufficient assistance to you : 

First procure a board fifteen inches square and of any thickness, 
although half inch material is probably the best. Have the front 
of it planed, and if the board be of walnut you might oil and rub 
it for a finish. Find the center and bore a hole with a gimlet from 
the front toward the back. Now whittle a round stick like 
figure 50, the larger part to be about the thickness of a heavy pen- 
( 7 ffTigfr~ 55 S 5 j p--, holder, and two inches from the end to the shoul¬ 
der the short projection being made to fit the 
Fig. 50. gimlet hole you have already bored. Insert it, and 
see that it stands at a true angle with the board. 

Now that we have a place to hang our hydrometer, we will pro¬ 
ceed to make the instrument itself. For this we will first secure a 
slender piece of wood, the lighter the better ; pine will do, but a 
nice well seasoned piece of walnut will be better, and it should not 
be over an eighth of an inch in thickness and not more than three- 
eighths in width. The length should be fourteen inches. 

The arm or balance now being ready, find the middle exactly 
and make a very small hole through it, large enough to permit the 
free passage of a hairpin. Next procure a very large pin of the 
ordinary kind, and if you can get a dry fish-scale put it on the pin 
close up under its head ; if a fish-scale is not to be had a bit of 
writing fiaper will answer. 

Fasten the arm to the end of figure 50, and if it does not 
balance cut a little wood from the heavy end. The next step will 
be to make a graduated arc similar to “ b,” figure 51, which can be 
made of pasteboard, and is to be fourteen inches from the inner 
points. The center may be marked “zero.” Half an inch from 
either end make a mark, that on the upper portion being marked 
“very damp,” that on the lower being marked “ very dry.” Equi¬ 
distant between the “zero ” and the other marks you will insert 
“ damp ” and “ dry.” Your scale being completed will now be at¬ 
tached to the left hand side of your board. 

Next take a piece of wire sixteen inches long, and bend at right 
angles two and a half inches at each end ; a brad-awl will make 
two holes in the board in which to insert the ends of the wire, 
making a slide-guard like “a,” figure 51. 





54 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


Now we want a sponge. Having procured one, first wash it in 
water; after it has been squeezed dry, wash it a second time in 
water in which a small quantity of sal-ammoniac has been dis¬ 
solved, which will effectually cleanse it of all foreign matter. 

When it is dry it is fit to be used. 
Having fastened a string to it, then sus¬ 
pend it from the right arm, and if you 
have employed the time while it was 
drying you will have in readiness a 
small weight like “ c,” figure 51. This 
weight may be a bit of lead, or, failing, 
anything better, a nail, which is to be 
hung on the left arm. It must be moved 
to such a position that it balances the 
sponge, when you will have a perfect 

The principal on which this little instrument works is that when 
there is a superabundance of moisture in the air the sponge will 
absorb a portion and become heavier, causing the other end of 
the arm to move up the graduated scale. 

On the contrary, if the air becomes very dry, it will absorb such 
moisture as was in the sponge, which, becoming lighter, will be 
lifted by the counterpoise, and the arm will move down the 
scale. 



Fig. 51. 

hyrometer like figure 51. 


The board may be permanently fastened against the wall of any 
room selected, preferably your own, so that your handiwork may 
be frequently before your eyes. 


Harry’s success in making the hydrometer caused the other 
boys to put on their thinking caps; and George, after much 
thought, came to the conclusion that a magic lantern would be 
something that would help to pass many a pleasant evening, and 
that he would make one. 



One of the essentials of his 
making the magic lantern was 
that it should not cost much, for 
as a matter of fact, the only 
available capital that he had was 
sixty cents; it being understood 
that the funds of The Make and 
Mend Club could not be used 
save for such purposes as would 
result in a return to the treasury 
of more than was taken out. 
Sixty cents was certainly a very 


•Note.—A lamp is shown at “a.” back of which is a reflector “c,” which con¬ 
denses the liKht and throws it into the tube opposite •• m,” into which asmaller 
tu ^ e *i. n i 8l,d . e8 ’ fo J!L th .?.Purpose of,9 btaiDin K a focus. Between the tube*'m ’ 
and the lamp is a slide i, t,” m which the painted glass slides are moved The’ 
arrangement of the lenses is as represented. 





























THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


55 


small margin on which to construct a magic lantern, nut. George 
went at it determined to accomplish this result. 

He found the frame of an old square lantern, one of those made 
to use candles in, and with ordinary panes of window glass fitted 
in—the glass, however, being entirely absent from this particulai 
lantern. Being measured, he ascertained that the glass had been 
eight by ten inches, so at the tinsmith’s he bought four sheets of 
tin that size. In one of them, near the center, he had a round 
hole cut one inch and a half in diameter. He next took another 
piece of tin three inches wide by two deep and bent at right angles 
at each end a piece three-eighths of an inch ; in this tin was cut a 
hole corresponding in size to that cut into the larger piece. He 
now had the tinman solder a four-inch length of tin tube, slightly 
larger than the orifice, immediately over it this being done, he 
then had the whole soldered fast to the eight by ten sheet of tin so 
that the two holes were in a direct line. He next got a two- 
inch length of tin tube that was just enough smaller than the 
other piece to telescope or slide into it. 

He now returned home and took his purchases into the work¬ 
shop. He fitted the tin squares into the lantern slides where the 
glass had been. 

He was the owner of what most boys best know as a burning 
glass, the proper name of which would be a “ double convex 
lens.” This he secured in a very ingenious way by means of mu¬ 
cilage and a narrow strip of soft leather to the other end of the 
two-inch length of tin tube. The second lens that would be 
necessary he did not have, and went to the jeweler’s in the town, 
who, in connection with that business, was a dealer in optical 
goods. 

The tin work had depleted George’s cash to the sum of twenty- 
five cents, hence he had but thirty-five left; he calculated that the 
lens would cost all of this, if not more, although he hoped to get 
it for this sum, and certainly proceeded in an artful way to make 
it sufficient. 

“I want to see some lenses, Mr. Davis, if you please,” he said, as 
he paused before the show case. 

“What kind of lenses, George?” Mr. Davis inquired, being ac¬ 
quainted with the boy, and knowing his name. 

“ Why, sir, some pretty good sized lenses.” 

Mr. Davis took a box out from under the counter and placed it 
on the show case; it contained reading glasses, which are “ double 
convex,” in great variety and numerous sizes. As George handled 
these over, secretly searching for such* a lens as he wanted, he 
kept pricing them. He almost despaired of finding what he want¬ 
ed, when right down at the bottom of the box he saw it. 

Assuming an indifferent air, that little accorded with the eager¬ 
ness within him, he inquired : 

“ What is that used for, Mr, Davis ?” 



56 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


“ For a variety of purposes, but principally in magic lanterns.” 

“ Do you sell many of them ?” 

“ No. That has been lying there for three or four years, I should 
judge. If you want it you can have it very cheap.” 

“ What do you call cheap ?” 

“Well, say fifty cents.” 

George’s heart sunk within him. 

“I don’t think I want it at that price,” he said, putting it down 
lothfully. 

“Well, you would like to have it I suppose ?” 

“Yes, I could make use of it if I got it cheap enough.” 

“ What do you call cheap ?” 

“ About fifteen or twenty cents. Ten cents would be cheaper 
and I don’t think I would give more than fifteen, come to think of 
it.” 

“ Well,” said Mr. Davis, laughing, “ take it for fifteen cents if 
you want it; if I don’t sell it now I may not have an opportunity 
of doing so for four years more.” 

George left the store with the lens in his pocket, fifteen cents 
poorer, but a much more happy boy than when he had entered. 

This lens he fastened in place by means of leather and mucilage, 
the position being as shown at figure 52. 

This in a great measure may be said to have completed his lan¬ 
tern proper, the only requisites still being a lamp and a reflector. 
The latter he obtained at the tin store at a cost of fifteen cents, 
which still left him five out of his original sixty. The lamp he 
could easily obtain at home. 

His magic lantern now was completed save for the picture slides. 

Going now to the paint and glass store he obtained some strips 
of glass ten inches long and two inches wide, which being waste he 
obtained all that he wanted for his remaining five cents. 

Cleaning these strips of glass thoroughly he laid them aside and 
prepared to make his pictures. From various books, some which 
contained the outline figures so recently become popular, he cut 
such pictures as were small enough to be taken on the strips of 
glass, crosswise. When he had finished this task he found himself 
the possessor of nearly one hundred pictures, being more than he 
could possibly use; hence his first task was to select those pictures 
from which h6 could get the best effects, discarding the remainder, 
but preserving them for possible future use. 

Taking the selected pictures he fastened them all by the corners 
with a little gum to the glass slides, the pictures facing the glass; 
turning the slides so that the backs of the pictures were down¬ 
ward, he then took a fine camel’s hair brush, dipped it into some 
thinned black varnish and carefully traced the outlines of the pict¬ 
ures that showed under the glass. Allowing this time to dry, and 
still using the pictures as a guide, he filled in the outlines with 
transparent colors, the body for which was white varnish. 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 57 

When this was done he put the slides aside until they should be 
dry enough to handle. 

While George felt perfectly confident that his magic lantern 
would prove a success he yet did not wish to risk an exhibition 
with it until he had made a trial of it in private. 

That he was pleased and satisfied with the result was indicated 
by his proposing to exhibit with it on the next evening our friends 
were at his house. 

The boys all knew what George had been about during the last 
few days, but when questioned they had found him very reticent 
as to his success or failure. 

About nine o’clock in the evening came the first intimation of 
the coming treat; it was in the shape of George walking into the 
sitting-room wearing a white sheet drooped about his shoulders 
like a toga. 

“ What is the meaning of this ?” his mother inquired, quickly. 

“ With your permission, mother, and that of our guests, I am 
going to give an exhibition with my magic lantern.” 

“ Your magic lantern ?” his mother surprisedly said, not know¬ 
ing what George had been about during these last few days. “I 
was not aware that you had one.” 

“ Oh, yes, it is an old story now. I made it some time ago.” 

The sheet having been properly hung, George disappeared in the 
direction of his own room, presently returning with about as un¬ 
couth a magic lantern as eyes ever gazed upon. 

The lights were put out and the lantern was adjusted to a suit¬ 
able position in relation to the sheet; a black cloth that had been 
over the tube was withdrawn with a flourish, and the exhibition 
was in progress. 

“ My!” exclaimed Joe, at sight of a picture on the sheet that he 
well remembered, “that lantern don’t look much, but she is a 
hummer.” 

It was a picture representing a fat man standing aghast, his 
pointed-crowned felt hat falling from the back of his head, his 
hands upraised and a pipe he had been smoking being carried 
away in the bill of a gorgeously colored bird. 

And standing up, Joe recited : 

“ There was a fat man of Bombay, 

Who was smoking his pipe one sunshiny day, 

When a bird called a snipe 
Flew away with his pipe— 

Which vexed this fat man of Bombay!” 

Joe’s recitation was greeted with shouts of laughter, and none 
enjoyed it more than George. 

Dozens of other pictures were shown, among them many relat¬ 
ing to the rhymes of Mother Goose; several other quotations were 
aptly made, although none hit the mark quite so aptly or so nicely 
as Joe’s recitation, 



58 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


The exhibition being over, the magic lantern was declared by 
everybody to be a shining success, and many were the exclama¬ 
tions of surprise when George modestly told them that the sum 
total of the value represented was sixty cents. 

At a suggestion from Uncle Frank, George repeated the even¬ 
ing’s entertainment several times subsequently, producing new 
pictures, and charging a small admission fee, the result being the 
addition to the treasury of The Make and Mend Chub, of slightly 
more than eight dollars. 

While George had been busy with his magic lantern, Mark Sted- 
man had been equally busy, although in another direction. 

He was the owner of a dainty little gold-fish, that had been pre¬ 
sented to him when in the country the preceding summer. The 
fish had been kept in a glass globe, which, unfortunately had been 
knocked from the table and broken when the girl was dusting. 

The gold-fish lay gasping on the floor when Mark rsuhed to the 
rescue, and succeeded in placing him in water again quick enough 
to save his life. 

“ Poor little Goldie!” be said, looking at him; “you shall never 
be placed in a glass globe again, for they break too easily. I am 
going to make for you a nice little aquarium, and I will putin 
with you some gravel and moss and stones, and may be a little 
turtle or two, if I can find them. I cannot help your staying in 
this pail though, until next Saturday, although in the mean time I 
will make preparations, and when Saturday comes will pitch in 
and make you a new home.” 

Bright and early Saturday morning, he went to work and got 
out four pieces of wood an inch square and nine inches long; 
selecting one corner’of each stick to work on, he marked it with a 
knife by making a notch so that he would know it. He then 
worked into the wood from this corner until he had cut out a 
square piece of half an inch in either direction, which left him 
four uprights, the ends of which looked like this: 

He had before prepared a board ten inches in width, 
by fourteen in length, and had taken especial care that 
it was square. 

He now fastened his four uprights to the four cor¬ 
ners of this board by means of glue; after allowing this 
'to harden he turned the board upside down and drove 

Fig. 53. some two inch brads through the board and into the 
uprights, to further secure them. 

He was now ready to put in the glass, which he had purchased 
cut to the exact size he wanted. 

Fitting in the glass he took some putty, and with a putty-knife 
filled up the corners inside, being careful to make a smooth joint 
between the putty and the glass so that a leak would not be pos¬ 
sible; after this was finished he put putty along the bottom of the 
glass where it joined the bottom board, and then being satisfied 




THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 59 

that his work was well done, he stood the aquarium to one side to 
permit the putty to dry. 

It would not have done to put water in it and then his gold-fish, 
for the putty contained elements that would have proved de¬ 
structive to the gold-fish’s life. 

He let it stand for three days before he put water into it, and 
this he emptied out after a space of three or four hours and put in 
fresh water again. 

He kept on repeating this until he could no longer see floating 
on the water a slight oily scum, the absence of which indicated 
when he might safely put the gold-fish into it. 

Meanwhile he had spread a thin coat of cement orer the bottom 
board, and had also tacked a strip of molding around the top 
edge of the aquarium, securing it by brads to the uprights at the 
corners. 

Now strewing over the bottom some cleanly washed gravel, and 
throwing in a few handfuls of white scouring sand, and placing 
in the center a moss-covered stone as large as his two fists, the 
aquarium was completed for the present. 

With a little ceremony the gold-fish was transferred from his 
less pretentious quarters in a water-pail to the aquarium, and the 
way he frisked around it would seem to indicate that he found 
his present home more suited to his tastes than the old one. 

Later on Mark introduced into his aquarium some delicate little 
water plants tha . added much to its attractiveness, and it was 
considered quite enough of an ornament to occupy a conspicuous 
place in the sitting-room. 


CHAPTER IX. 

. EXPERIMENTS. 

During the winter there were many days when it was not fit for 
the boys to be out of doors after returning from school, and as an 
outlet must be had for the activity which is never absent from a 
healthy wide-awake boy, it maybe easily imagined that many and 
various experiments were made. 

Ben tried one experiment in which not a little fun was obtained 
at the expense of Harry Amberly. 

The latter one day received, on going to the post office, a letter 
duly addressed to himself in a large, round, firm hand, and bear¬ 
ing the post-mark of New York. 

“ Now, I wonder who that can be from,” he said to himself, as 
he looked closely at the address. “ I don’t know the writing, and 
I am pretty sure I never saw it before. Well, here goes to see who 
it is from.” 

He tore open the envelope, and an expression of deep surprise 
crept into his face when he saw that the folded paper inside was 
blank. 



60 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


What did it mean ? 

He unfolded the paper, turned it over two or three times, scru¬ 
tinizing it closely, even holding it up to the light, but still could 
see nothing. 

“ That just beats me,” he muttered, as he walked thoughtfully 
up the street. “Has somebody been playing a trick on me by 
sending a letter containing not one word ?” 

Oh meeting the boys shortly afterward, he mentioned the cir¬ 
cumstance of haying received this letter, about which they all 
commenced puzzling their heads. 

We said all, but we should have excepted Ben, about whose 
mouth a quiet smile might have been seen to play. This smile 
suggested that he could have explained what was seemingly so 
mysterious had he so desired. 

A few words shortly afterward whispered by Ben into Mark’s 
ear wrought a change in that individual, and with a droll look in 
his eyes he began suggesting all sorts of preposterous ideas in con¬ 
nection with Harry’s letter. 

“Are you going crazy, Mark?” Harry questioned, in a rather 
testy tone. “ Guess you would not like it, either, if you got a let¬ 
ter like that and didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe some¬ 
body wrote me a very important letter, and by mistake put a 
folded piece of blank paper into the envelope, instead of another 
sheet that had been written upon.” 

While Harry was thus discoursing, a few words were whispered 
by Ben to Joe from whose face the previously puzzled expression 
vanished, and into whose eyes flashed a merry gleam. 

“ I say, Harry,” he remarked, “ do you know what I think?” 

“ No; what do you think ?” 

“Well, I think that that letter must have been written by the 

Sultan of Turkey, offering you the hand of his daughter in mar¬ 
riage.” 

“ I wish you would stop your fooling!” 

“Iam not fooling; I am talking about a very serious matter.” 
“Nonsense! I say, if any of you boys have got a sensible sug¬ 
gestion to make, I am ready to listen to it, but I don’t want to be 
guyed about it.” 

Charley Amberly was just turning away from Ben, a new light 
in his face; and, to Harry’s last words, he made the rejoinder 

“ Harry, I say, there is some deep, dark plot in that letter 
against you.” 

“ What do you mean ?” 

“ Why,” struggling hard to speak seriously and with a gravity 
becoming to the idea expressed, “it occurs to me that some one 
wrote you that letter with the idea that you would puzzle your 
brains about it so much as to make you crazy. I would not be 
surprised that, if we could find out the truth, it would come to 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 61 

light that the letter was written by a keeper of some insane 
asylum.” 

Harry was by this time not far from being in a downright ill- 
humor, and he rather sarcastically said : 

“ George—George Walden I say, I have not heard from you yet; 
can’t you make a fool of yourself, too, by suggesting some ab¬ 
surdity?” 

“ 1 can, I suppose, but I don’t care to. My suggestion would be 
that you try to discover if this letter is not written in sympathetic 
ink.” 

Harry looked bewildered for a moment, and then as a merry 
laugh from all the boys rung in his ears, a light dawned upon his 
mind. 

“Sold, by hokey!” he exclaimed. “Who is the sinner who 
played me this trick ?” 

None of the boys showed any anxiety to claim the honor. 

On exposing the letter to the heat of a fire, Harry was enabled 
to lead the nonsensical stuff which Ben had written to him. 

It was now held to be in order that Ben should explain how this 
sympathetic ink was made. He did so readily, in these words: 

“It was done with a diluted solution of nitrate of cobalt, of 
which I bought five cents’ worth at the drug store, and dissolved 
it in water; held to the fire it will appear perfectly distinct, and 
of a blue color, and will disappear again on cooling. Uncle Frank 
told me of it, and he says it is the best sympathetic ink that can 
be made.” 

That week the regular meeting was at the house of Mr. Am- 
berly, and as it had grown into quite a custom that some diversion 
should be furnished, it fell to Harry’s lot to provide for it. 

After the club had held their meeting the boys adjourned to the 
sitting-room, and at their advent, Mr. Amberly said: 

“ Well, Harry, we have been waiting for you rather anxiously, 
for we desire to see what kind of an entertainment you have pre¬ 
pared for us.” 

Harry colored in a bashful way, gulped down a lump in his 
throat, by an effort gained a certain amount of self-possession, 
and said: 

“ Very well, I am ready. I cannot say that I will be able to in¬ 
terest you as much as you were with the magic lantern, but I will 
do as well as I can. The first thing I shall endeavor to interest 
you with is a little trick, to perform which it will be necessary to 
borrow a watch from some of the gentlemen present.” 

The gentlemen looked a little doubtfully at each other. Per¬ 
haps not one of them was over-anxious to intrust his watch out of 
his own hands, for a gentleman nearly always prides himself on, 
and takes care of, a good watch. No one responding, Harry said : 

“ Won’t you let me have yours, father ? I will be very careful 
with it, I promise you.” 


62 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

“ See that you are, Harry, for I would not have an accident 
happen to my watch for anything. I have carried it now for fif¬ 
teen years, and it has never been to the jeweler’s but once, and 
then it was for cleaning.” 

“ I will be very careful, father,” as he took the watch from his 
father’s hand. “ Is it going, sir?” 

“ Certainly.” 

As if doubtful of this fact Harry lifted the watch to his ear; and 
then, with a grave face, he said : 

“ Father, it is not going.” 

“Not going?” 

“ No, sir.” 

“ Let me see.” 

Holding the watch in the hollow of his hand Harry placed it 
beside his father’s ear; sure enough the tick—tick—tick—that had 
so steadily sounded for fifteen years was now silenced. 

“ I cannot understand that,” Mr. Amberly said. “It certainly 
was going when I handed it to you.” 

“Well, sir, you must be aware that I could not have injured it. 
Mr. Stedmau, will you let me have your watch, please.” 

As Mr. Stedman drew out his watch, Harry returned his father’s 
to him. Taking Mr. Stedman’s, he made the same inquiry as 
before: 

“ Is it going?” 

“ It is.” 

Again Harry repeated the movement o f placing it to his ear, and 
again he gravely said : 

“ It is not going, sir.” 

“Why, how can that be?” was the startled query. 

“Uncle Frank, may I take your watch?” Harry asked, returning 
Mr. Stedman’s. 

“ Certainly,” Uncle Frank returned, “ but first let me assure 
myself that it is going. Yes it is,” holding it to his ear, “ now you 
may take it.” 

“But, Uncle Frank,” Harry said, as he held the watch to his ear, 
“this don’t seem to be going any more than the others did. May I 
call on you, Mr. Walden? It is impossible to perform the trick 
unless I can find a watch that will go.” 

Mr. Walden passed over his watch with a grimace, but not before 
assuring himself that it was running. As Harry placed this watch 
to his ear a disgusted look crept into his face, and shaking his head 
dejectedly he handed it back, saying : 

“Just like the others, Mr. Walden, it don’t go. I am afraid I 
cannot do this trick.” 

“Why not?” came from Mr. Amberly. “My watch is going 
now.” 

“And mine,” said Mr. Stedman. 

“ And mine,” said Uncle Frank. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


63 


“And mine,” said Mr. Walden. 

“ Why don’t they go when I have them?” rejoined Harry. “No 
use talking, gentlemen, I cannot do the trick with such watches as 
those.” 

Just then the slightly puzzled expression on Uncle Frank's face 
was replaced by another indicating enlightenment, and rising 
quietly he went to Harry and took hold of his right arm, down 
which he gently slid one hand until it reached Harry’s wrist, 
around which he fastened his fingers. 

“ Gentlemen,” he now said, addressing the others, “the secret of 
the trick—which by the way has already been performed—will be 
found in Harry’s hand here. Will you be kind enough, Harry, to 
open your hand and permit us to see what you have in it ?” 

“ Certainly sir,” was the reply, and on Harry’s palm was present¬ 
ly seen a small horseshoe magnet that had been given him at 
Christmas time. 

“This is the explanation,” said Uncle Frank. “The magnet, 
attracting the balance wheel, stops its movement, which was the 
secret of the watch not running when held in Harry’s hand. When 
he passed it back to you there was sufficient jar to start it running 
again.” 

There was not a little laugh over the neat manner in which 
Harry had tricked his elders, who certainly should have been wise 
enough to know something of the Dature of the cause of their 
watches stopping. 

“ What have you next, Harry?” his father shortly inquired. 

“I will show you, sir,” was the reply. “If you will excuse me 
for a couple of minutes I will step out into the dining-room, and 
get a few ordinary wine glasses on a tray.” 

He was absent only a minute or so. 

“ This,” he said, holding up a cut glass decanter, “is a liquid of 
my own manufacture, which it will please me to have you drink 
my health in. Mr. Stedman, a glass for you, sir, if you please; 
here is another for you, Mr. Walden; and one for you, Uncle 
Frank; father’s turn will come presently.” 

Each of the three gentleman now held empty glasses in their 
hands. With a nourish Harry approached with the decanter, 
which to all appearances contained claret wine. 

“Mr. Stedman!” bowing before that gentleman; and then he 
poured some of the red liquid into Mr. Stedman’s glass. 

It may have been claret wine that was poured from the decant- 
er _it was not claret wine upon which Mr. Stedman looked, but 
rather upon ink, for the instant it touched the glass it turned 
black. 

“Mr. Walden,” bowing before that gentleman, and beginning to 
pour into his glass some of the red liquid. 

Mr. Walden was naturally surprised to note that the red liquid 


C4 MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

poured into his glass began to grow pale and did not cease parting 
with its color until no more than a light straw tint remained. 

“ Uncle Frank, may I assist you now ?” and without waiting for 
a reply Harry filled Uncle Frank’s glass. 

The liquid went into it red, but when Uncle Frank raised the 
glass between the light and himself it had changed its color to a 
violet hue. 

“Well, Harry,” Mr. Stedman now said. “I don’t mind drinking 
your health, but I don’t care to do it in ink.” 

“ Nor I, in an unknown substance the color of a lemon peel,” said 
Mr. Walden. 

“Nor I, in a violet something the nature of which is a mystery,” 
came from Uncle Frank. 

The gentlemen perhaps had seen something similar before, and 
knew or suspected the trick Harry was playing. To the ladies, 
however, the sight was a very strange one, and quite mysterious, 
and there was a chorus of questions as to how it was done. 

“It is simple enough,” Harry returned. “I did not know but 
that father and the other gentlemen had seen the trick performed, 
if they had not done it themselves ; but I made up my mind to do 
it, for the sake of the fun if they were as surprised as I hoped they 
would be. The red liquor in the decanter was made by infusing a 
few log-wood shavings in water; now, then, one of the glasses into 
which this liquid was poured, had been rinsed with strong vinegar; 
another had a small quantity of powdered alum in the bottom of 
it, which I knew would hardly be detected, for nobody would 
think of scrutinizing the glass very closely; the third glass was not 
prepared in any way.” 

“ Is that all, Harry ?” his father presently inquired. 

“ No, sir, that is if you old folks are not too sedate to bother your 
heads over a couple of puzzles I have made?” 

“Not at all,” was the universal reply. “ Bring them out, and let 
us see what they are.” 

In response to this Harry produced six sealed envelopes from his 
pocket and said: 

“Three of these envelopes have a puzzle just the same, one of 
which I will give to each of the ladies. The other three envelopes 
contain three puzzles of another kind which are to be given to the 
gentlemen present, excepting Uncle Frank—there being no use of 
giving one to him, as I know that he can do it.” 

Having said this Harry gave each of the ladies an envelope, on 
opening which she found herself in possession of a puzzle which is 
represented by figure 54. The puzzle was to release the ball and 
cord from the heart; when Harry explained which to the ladies 
there were not a few cries of dismay. 

“ Why, it’s impossible!” exclaimed Mrs. Walden. 

“ I am afraid it would take me a month to study that out,” said 
Mrs. Amberly. “ I was never good at solving puzzles of any kind.” 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


65 


“I am sure I cannot do it,” Mrs. Stedman hopelessly said, “but I 
am going to try, nevertheless.” 

Harry now presented the three gentlemen with their envelopes, 
on opening which each found himself in possession of a number of 
triangular bits of card-board, which Harry explained were to be so 
arranged as to form a perfect square. 

Judging from the expression of their faces, the gentlemen felt 
little if any more confidence in their ability to perform the puzzle 
given them than their wives; although, man-like, they did not ad¬ 
mit it, but went to work with a certain grim determination to 
conquer what Mr. Stedman was heard to describe to himself in a 
low voice shortly afterward, as the “ confounded little puzzle 
wit!” 

It was not long before the ladies began to laugh merrily as one 
or the other of them managed to get the cord holding the ball into 
a tangle; and as the gentlemen met with failure after failure, the 
vexation at first expressed gave way to mirth, and enabled them 
to join the laughter of their wives. 

It can readily be imagined that the boys enjoyed this to the ut¬ 
most. 

Peals of laughter rung from their lips that fairly made the room 
echo, for since they knew themselves how each of these tricks 
should be performed, it was almost impossible for them to contain 
themselves at sight of the many blunders that were made. 

Perhaps the funniest part of all was when both the ladies and 
gentlemen acknowledged their inability to perform the puzzles, 
and the boys—one to each of the six puzzle workers—explained 
how it was done with an air of the most magnanimous conde¬ 
scension. 

The trick given the ladies to perform can be easily made by any 
boy. 

Here are directions how to make it and how it is to be done: 

To make this puzzle, it is only necessary to cut a thin piece of 
wood into the shape of a heart, to make six holes in it, as repre¬ 
sented in figure 54, and provide a thin silken cord, which is to be 
doubled, and the two ends fastened into a small wooden ball. To 
play the ball on, pass the loop through the hole 6, from face to 
back, up to 2, through which bring it, and then through 3, 5, 4, and 
1, in succession ; then through 2 again, and down the back to 6; 
bring it through 6 to the face, and pass it over the ball; then draw 
the loop back again through 6 and 2, and the puzzle—which is to 
take the ball and string off after being thus fixed—is set. To play 
the ball off, place the heart before you in the position described 
by the cut; slacken the string by drawing, at the back, the ball 
toward the hole 6; then loosen the rest of the string by pulling it 
toward you, and draw up the loop as far as you can; then pass the 
loop through hole 2, down the other side of the heart, to 6; through 
which bring it to the face, and pass it over the ball; then draw the 

3 


66 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


loop back again through the same hole, and the ball and the string 
will come off. Care should be taken to avoid twisting or entang¬ 
ling the string. The length of the string should be proportioned 
to the size of the heart; if you make the heart two inches and a 
half high, the string when doubled should be about nine inches 
long. 




Herewith we give directions and explanation of the square com¬ 
posed of twenty lengths: 

Cut twenty triangles out of a square bit of wood, as marked in 
the engraving, mix them up together, and bid any person make 
an exact square of them. 

Thekey to this puzzle may be acquired by remembering the 
black lines in the cut; by which it will be seen that four triangles 
are to \>e placed at thd corners, and a small square made in the 
center; when this is done, the remainder is easy of execution. A 
piece of card will do instead of wood; it is much easier to cut out; 
but, on account of its warping, wood is to be preferred to it. 
Great care must be taken that all the edges are smooth and regu¬ 
lar; for if any of them are notched or wavy so as to tally with 
each other they may of course with little difficulty be put to¬ 
gether. 

All who were present agreed that’ Harry’s entertainment had 
been a success, and of course he was delighted to have it said, and 
after getting into bed that night it was long before he fell asleep. 
One reason for his wakefulness may have been that there was a 
cat concert in their back yard, and even though it may not have 
prevented his going to sleep, it certainly interfered with his 
father’s rest, for he mentioned the fact at the breakfast table. 

Mr. Amberly, after a short pause, added, suddenly: 

“ Boys, is not one or the other of you ingenious enough to devise 
some means of driving the cats away?” 

“ A scuttle of large coal, judiciously used, might answer,” Harry 
laughingly returned. 

“Practical, perhaps, but rather expensive; besides being an 
article that cats are so well acquainted with that it does not pro¬ 
duce a lasting impression.” 

A wise expression now crept into Charley Amberly’s face. He 
would make an effort to silence those noisy cats. 










67 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

Saying nothing to Harry, he proceeded to make what boys gen¬ 
erally know as a bean-shooter. He began by taking a piece of 
half-inch pine, and using his pocket-knife made a handle some'* 
what in the shape of the letter Y, and represented by figure 56. 

He now procured two good sized rubber bands and a small bit 
of leather. Into each end of the two bands he fastened a few 
inches of stout linen twine—in fact it was part of an old fishline. 
He next cut the leather to the shape shown by figure 57, putting a 



Fig. 56. Fig. 57. 

small hole in each end, and a narrow slit lengthwise in the middle 
for the purpose of more firmly securing the missile to be shot. 

The strings at one end of the rubber bands were tied to the top 
of his Y-shaped handle, taking care that they were of the same 
length, so that it would draw evenly; the other two strings were 
fastened into the previously made holes in the leather, and the 
bean-shooter was complete. 

There chanced to be some large sized buckshot in the house, 
which Charley seized on for ammunition, and that night when the 
first “ mew-ow-ow!” was heard he softly raised his window. It 
was a moonlight night, and the cats could be distinctly seen. He 
waited until the concert was well under way and then went and 
knocked on the door of his father’s room. 

“ What is it?” came the inquiry. 

“ I say, father, the cats are at it.” 

“I hear them,” a despairing accent in his voice. 

“ Will The Make and Mend Club be entitled to tax the honor¬ 
ary members if I drive away those cats ?” 

“ Yes, I judge so.” 

That was all Charley wanted. 

Going back to his room he stationed himself at his open window, 
put in a shot, took careful aim, and let it fly. The shot being 
round flew true to the aim, and as it plunked against the ribs of a 
brindle Thomas cat he emitted a yell that was perfectly startling. 

Half a dozen more shots were fired, and then the cats, like the 
Arabs, “folded their tents and stole silently away.” 

They returned the next night, but being received as before they 
wisely concluded to give Mr. Amberly’s residence a wide berth 
after that. 

At the next meeting Charley gravely presented for consideration 
the proposition that a bean-shooter was a practical article, and by 
a majority of one it was decided that the honorary members should 
pay the usual tax. 

At this meeting George Walden rose to make a motion. It was 




68 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


that The Make and Mend Club should establish a gymnasium in 
the barn, the floor of which was plenty large enough for that pur¬ 
pose, as well as answering for a workshop. 

The proposition was duly seconded, the question was put, and 
the motion declared to be carried. They soon after adjourned and 
spent the remainder of the evening with their parents in Mrs. 
Stedman’s sitting-room. 


CHAPTER X. 

THE CLUB AS GYMNASTS. 

The intention of starting a gymnasium, as recorded in the last 
chapter, speedily took practical shape. Having the tools at hand, 
the boys found little difficulty in making their own parallel bars 
and other appurtenances. Without attempting to follow our boys 
very closely in this chapter, we will here speak in a general way 
of them, their gymnasium and their practice. 

PARALLEL BARS. 

These are two pieces of wood, from six to eight feet in length, 
and about four inches square, the edges rounded. For lads, they 
are fixed at about eighteen inches apart, and supported by two 
round standards firmly fixed in the ground from three to four 
feet high, according to the stature of the boys. 

Balancing .—Being placed between the bars and in the center, 
put your hands right and left on the bars at the same time. After 
a little jump upwards, preserve your equilbrium on both wrists, 
the legs close ; this is called the first position. Then communicate 
to your body a gentle movement of balancing from behind, for¬ 
ward, and continue this for several times, the body moving, as it 
were, upon a pivot. This should be practiced until the body 
Bwings freely backward and forward. (Fig. 58). 




To bring both legs over .—£rom the position, after a little move¬ 
ment of balancing, bring both legs, close and at once, over one of 
the bars forward, without touching it or moving your hands 
from the place. The same ought to be made backward from 
right to left. 

To Jump Out .—After havingcommuwicated to the body a move¬ 
ment of balance, the moment at which the legs are raised over the 























THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


69 


bars, jump baokward over the right without touching it with the 
feet or wrist; then perform the same jump forward. By the 
vaulting jump you may easily come between the bars, and also 
bring your body over both without touching them otherwise than 
with your hands. (Fig. 59). 

To Rise and sink Down.—Being in equilibrium in the middle of 
the bars, plaoe the legs backward, the heels close to the upper 
part of the thigh. From this position come gently down till the 
elbows nearly meet behind the back, then rise up gently without 
any impulse or touchingthe ground with your feet. 

To kiss the Bar behind the Hands .—In the same position as be¬ 
fore, bring the body gently down between the bars without touch¬ 
ing the ground with your knees; kiss the bar behind each hand 
alternately, and then rise up in the first position. 

Jumping on the Bars— Keep the knees straight and jump along 
the bars backward and forward. Afterward, do the same with 
the fingers turned inside. These will be learned easier if the young 
gymnast tries them first with bent knees. 

Walking on the Bars .—Walk on the hands to the end and back 
again. In walking backward take care to keep the elbows 
straight, or you will come down. When this is done with ease, do 
the same, only keep your fingers inside the bars. (Fig. 60). 



Fig. 61. 


Fig. 60. 


Xj.—S it on the ground between the bars; take hold of the bars 
with your hands and raise your body still in the sitting position, 
and stay there as long as you can. When that is learned, jump 
along the bars in the same attitude. Keep your knees straight, 
and don’t mind if your limbs ache a little. (Fig. 61). 

The Arm Swing— Rest the forearms on the bar and swing. When 
tired of swinging, left the body hang straight, and then rise on the 
hands. Not easy at first, but soon done with practice. 

The Roll .—Rest on the forearms, swing backward, and turn com¬ 
pletely over, catching the bars under the arms. It looks difficult, 
but is easy enough, only wanting a little nerve. (Fig. 62). 

The Sausage .—Kneel on the bars. Stretch the hands as far for¬ 
ward as possible, and hitch the toes over the bars behind, at the 
same time stretching them backward as far as possible. Now let 


















TO 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


the body sink between the bars, being supported by the hands 
and insteps. Now rise again. Difficult, but soon learned. (Fig. 63). 



Fig. 62. Fig. 63. 

To Stand on a Bar— Sit astride one of the bars. Place the heel 
of the right toot on the bar, hitching the left instep under it. 
Draw yourself up by means of the left instep. Take care of your 
balance. This is a very useful accomplishment, and may possibly 
stand the gymnast in good stead. 

The Drop .—Stand on the bars with each foot over one of the 
posts. Spring slightly into the air, put the feet together, and 
come down stiff, catching yourself by your hands. This should be 
done over the posts, as the bars might be broken were the weight 
of the faller to come in the middle. 

The Spring .—Swing at one end, and with a sudden impulse lean 
to the other on your hands. Take care of the balance of the body 
or you will come on your back between the bars. 

THE HORIZONTALi BAR. 

Let two strong upright posts be firmly fastened into the ground, 
about six feet apart, and let a wooden bar be strongly mortised 
into their tops. The bar should be made of white deal, about two 
in hes and a half in diameter. The bar must have no knot in it, 
or it will break. It should be so high from the ground that a 
spring is required to reach it with the hands. The surface of the 
bar should be free from all roughnesses, but not polished. 



Fig. 64. Fig. 65. 

The Grasp.— The fingers should be hooked over the pole, keeping 
the thumb on the same side as the fingers. Hang as long as possi¬ 
ble, first with both hands, then with each hand by turns. (Fig. 64.) 
The Walk.—Bang by the hands, and walk by them from one end 



















THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


VI 


of the pole to the other, backward and forward. Do not slip. Do 
it first with both hands on the same side of the pole, afterward 
with a hand at each side. 

Breasting the Bar. —Hang by the hands, and draw up the body 
slowly until the chest touches the bar. Practice this as often as 
possible—knees upright. 

Kicking the Bar. —Hang by the hands and draw up the feet 
very slowly until the instep touches. Difficult at first, but soon 
learned. Do not kick about, or jerk yourself upward, or you may 
strain yourself. (Fig. 65.) 

Swinging.— Hang by the hand and swing backward and forward. 
Practice this until your are considerably above your head each 
way. After a while, let go of the pole as you swing back, and 
catch it again as you come down. An inch or two at first is 
enough, but do not be satisfied until the hands can have a space of 
eight or ten inches between themselves and the bar. 

To sit on the Bar.— Hang by the hands, and pass one of your 
feet through them, hitching your knee over the bar. Then give a 
good swing backward, and come up sitting on the bar with one 
leg. Now draw the other leg over, and do not tumble off. 

Circling the Bar.— Hang by the hands, and curl the body gently 
over the bar. If it is too difficult, stop for a minute or two, try 
something else, and after an interval try it again. It will be soon 
learned. (Fig. 66). 

The True Lover's Knot.— Grasp the bar; pass the left knee 
through the right arm, so as to let the knee rest in the elbow; pass 
the right knee over the instep of the left foot; let go with the left 
hand, and with it grasp the right foot. You will now be suspended 
by the right hand, and will be packed up in a remarkably small 
space. Take care of the right wrist, or you will spin round and 
twist off. 



Fig. 66. . Fig. 67. 

Passing through the Arms.— Hang by the hands, and bring the 
feet between them, permitting them to pass through until they 
can nearly touch the ground; now return in the same way. This 
cannot be done properly without practising, as the muscles of the 












THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


shoulder-blades must be eapable of great relaxation, together with 
great power. (Fig. 67.) 



Fig. 69. 


Fig. 68. 


The Grasshopper.— Sit on the pole, grasping it with the fingers to 
the front. Slide gradually off, until the small of the back rests 
against the pole, while the arms are elevated at the elbows like a 
grasshopper’s legs. Now draw yourself up again. (Fig. 68.) 

Hanging by the Legs. —This is easy enough, and a capital pre¬ 
servative against determination of the blood to the brain. First, 
practice it with both legs over the pole; then take off the left leg 
and hitch it over the right instep; then learn to hang by one leg 
only, while you try to carry a weight in your hands. When you 
are perfect and confident, sit on the pole, and drop off backward, 
catching yourself by the legs. This must be done with a fall like 
a plummet, or the body will swing, and probably unhitch the legs 
from the pole. (Fig. 69.) 

The Arm-chair. —Hang on the bar by the arms just below the el¬ 
bows, keeping the elbows firmly pressed to the side. The hands 
should be lower than the bar, to counteract the swing of the body. 

Hanging by the Feet. —Hang by the hands and curl up the body, 
until the insteps are well hitched over the bar. Let go the hands 
cautiously, and permit the body to hang at full lergth. The best 
way to reach the bar again is to seize fc one of your legs and pull 
yourself up by it. 

To leave the Bar.— Never get on the bar or leave it in a clumsy 
manner; there should be art about everything. To leave the bar 
effectively is well worth practising. Here are six modes: 

1. Sit on the bar; drop and hang *by the legs, at the same time 
giving the body a swing forward, which will loosen the hold of the 
legs. Alight on the hands, and get gently on the feet. This is 
rather a brilliant finish, and not so difficult as it appears. 

2. Sit on the bar, place both hands on one side, and then vault 
over. 

3. Sit astride, place both hands on the bar in front, bring up 
both feet, at the same time springing upright; run along the bar 
and jump off the end, or slide down the post if it is too high to 
jump. 






















THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 73 

4 . Hang by the hands, draw up the body until the chest touches 
j the bar; spring off backward by the force of the arms. 

5. Hang by the hands, and swing completely around once, letting 

I the impetus hurl you forward. Take care to cross the feet and 
come down on the toes. 

6. If you are tired aud cannot perform any of these things, merely 
i hang by the hands, and come round through them, but never 
[ merely loose the pole. 


CHAPTER XI. 

WINTER EVENING AMUSEMENTS. 

Without any attempt at introducing them in the order in whioh 
they occurred we will devote a chapter to a few of the amusements 
the boys devised during the long evenings of the winter. Some 
are practical, some mere tricks, others instructive. 

First, to tell you how you may make a “ Silver Tree,” as was 
done by Ben: 

Put into a decanter four drachms of nitrate of silver, and fill up 
the decanter with distilled or rain water; then drop in about an 
ounce of mercury, and place the vessel where it may not be dis¬ 
turbed; in a short time the silver will be precipitated in the most 
beautiful arborescent form, resembling real vegetation. To the 
cork which will be used to stop the decanter, secure a piece of cord 
to the loose end of which attach a few inches of zinc wire, so that 
it will depend in the solution. (Fig. 70). 


Fig. 70. 

The above experiments show the precipitation of one metal by 
another, owing to the affinity that exists between them. The 
metal in solution having a greater affinity for the pure metal sus¬ 
pended in it, precipitates itself from the solution, and becomes 
firmly attached thereto. 

ENGRAVING ON EGG-SHEI/LS. 

Design on the shells any figure or ornament you please, with 














74 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


melted tallow, or any other fat, oily substance; then immerse the 
eggs in very strong vinegar, and let them remain until the acid 
has corroded that part of the shell which is not covered with the 
greasy matter; those parts will then appear in relief, exactly as you 
have drawn them. 

A LIQUID PRODUCED FROM TWO SOLIDS. 

Mix equal portions of sulphate of soda and acetate of lead, both in 
fine powder ; let them be well rubbed together in a mortar, when 
the two solids will operate upon each other, and a fluid will be 
produced. 

A SOLID PRODUCED FROM TWO LIQUIDS. 

If a saturated solution of muriate of lime be mixed with a satu¬ 
rated solution of carbonate of potash, both transparent liquids, the 
result is the formation of an opaque and almost solid mass. If a 
little nitric acid be added to the product, the solid mass will be 
changed to a transparent fluid. 

THE EGG IN THE PHIAL. 

You may make an egg enter a phial without breaking, by steep¬ 
ing it in strong vinegar for some time; the vinegar will so soften 
the shell that it will bend and extend lengthways without break¬ 
ing; when put in cold water it will resume its former figure and 
hardness. 

THE MAGIC SPOON. 

Put four ounces of bismuth into a crucible, and when in a state 
of complete fusion, throw in two ounces and a half of lead, and 
one ounce and a half of tin; these metals will combine, and form 
an alloy fusible in boiling water. Mould the alloy into bars, and 
take them to a silversmith to be made into tea-spoons. Place one 
of them in a saucer, at a tea-table, and the person who uses it will 
not be a little astonished to find it melt away as soon as he puts it 
into the hot tea. 

PHILOSOPHY CHEATED. 

This feat is really an excellent one, and has astonished crowds of 
spectators all over the world. It was one of the favorites of a late 
popular professor, and is now first promulgated. Before you per¬ 
form it in public, you must practice it until you are quite perfect, 
in private, for it would be a pity to spoil its effect by making a 
blunder in it. Begin by stating very seriously, what is a well- 
known fact, that if a bucket full of water be hurled round his head 
by a man, who is sufficiently strong, none of the water will fall 
out. It this be at all discredited, be prepared not only to support 
your assertion, but to carry the point still further, by placing a 
tumbler full of any liquid in the inside of a broad hoop, which you 
hold in your hand by a small piece of string fixed to it, and twirl¬ 
ing around at your side. If you do this with velocity, although 
the tumbler, in the circles made by the hoop, is frequently quite 
bottom upward, it will neither fall from the hoop, nor will any of 
the water be spilt. To do this, however, requires even more.prac- 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


75 


tice than the trick which it prefaces; as, although there is no dif¬ 
ficulty in it while the hoop is in rapid motion, yet there is some 
danger, until you are rendered expert by practice, of the tumbler’s 
falling, when you begin to put the hoop in motion, and when you 
wish to stop it. If, therefore, you are not perfectly capable of 
doing it, state the fact only, which some or other of your auditors 
will most probably support, as it is pretty generally known. You 
now go on to say, that the air, under the water in the glass, when 
it is topsy-turvy, keeps it in ; and that, upon the same principle, if 
you can turn your hand, upon which you place a piece of thin 
wood—about one inch broad, and six inches long—sufficiently 
quick, although the back be uppermost, the air will actually keep 
the wood up against the palm of your hand without any support. 



Fig. 72. 


Fig. 71, 


This they will be readily inclined to believe; the more philo¬ 
sophical the party is, the more easy may you lead them to credit 
your assertion. They will, however, doubt your being possessed 
of sufficient manual dexterity to perform it quick enough. 

We must now tell you how it is to be done: Lay the piece of 
wood across the palm of your left hand, which keep wide open, 
with the thumb and all the fingers far apart, lest you be suspected 
of supporting the wood with them. Next, take jmur left wrist in 
your right hand, and grasp it tightly, for the purpose, as you state, 
of giving the hand more steadiness. Now, suddenly turn the back 
of your left hand uppermost, and, as your wrist moves in your 
right hand, stretch out the forefinger of your right hand, and as 
soon as the wood comes undermost, support it with such forefin¬ 
ger. (Fig. 71). Now shake the hand, and, after a moment or two, 
suffer the wood to drop. It is two to one but the spectators will 
admit it to be produced by the action of the air, as you had previ¬ 
ously stated, and try to do it themselves; but, of course, they 
must, unless you have performed the feat so awkwardly as to be 
discovered, fail in its performance. If you have no objection to 
reveal the secret, you can do it again, and, while they are gravely 






THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


76 

philosophizing upon it, suddenly lift up your hand (Fig. 72) and 
expose the trick. This will, doubtless, create much amusement. 
Observe that in doing this feat, you must keep your fingers so low 
that no one can see the palm of your left hand; and move your 
finger so carefully that its action may not be detected; and if it 
be not, you may rest satisfied that its absence from round the wrist 
of the left hand will not be discovered, some of the fingers being 
naturally supposed to be under the coat; so that, if the spectators 
only see two or even one, they will imagine the others are beneath 
the cuff. There is one other observation necessary before we con¬ 
clude; it is this, when you have turned your hand over, do not 
keep the stick too long upheld, lest the spectators should take hold 
of your hands, and discover the trick; before their astonishment 
has ceased, adroitly remove your forefinger, and suffer the stick to 
fall to the ground. 


THE BALANCED STICK. 

Procure a piece of wood about the length of your hand, half an 
inch thick, and twice as broad; within a short distance of one end 

of this piece, thrust in the points of the 
blades of two penknives of equal weight 
in such a manner that one of them may 
incline to one side, the second to the 
other, as represented by the cut in the 
margin. If its other extremity be placed 
on the tip of the finger, the stick will 
keep itself upright without falling; and 
if it be made to incline, it will raise itself 
again and recover its former situation. 
This is a very pretty performance, and 
if properly managed cannot fail to ex¬ 
cite some surprise in the minds of those who behold it for the first 
time, as the knives, instead of appearing to balance the stick, 
whioh they in fact do, will rather appear to increase the difficulty 
of the feat. (Fig. 73). 

THE DIME IN THE BALL OF COTTON. 



Fig. 73. 


Get a tinman to make a flat tin tube, which will just allow a 
dime to pass through it. Wind a quantity of worsted round it, so 
as to make it into a ball. 

These preliminaries having been accomplished, perform any 
trick that will get the dime out of sight, such as pulling it. Then 
tell the spectators that you will bring the marked dime into the 
middle of a ball of worsted. Take down the ball from the place 
where it is lying, drop the dime into the tube, and withdraw the 
tube, leaving the dime in the ball. A good squeeze or two will 
hold it tight, and obliterate every mark of the tube. Place the 
ball in a tumbler, take the end of the worsted, and give it to some 
one to unwind. This being done, the dime will be found in the 




THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 77 

very center of the ball, with the end of the worsted wrapped tightly 
Ground it. 


THE WINE MERCHANT AND HIS CLERK. 


A wine merchant caused thirty-two casks of choice wine to he 
deposited in his cellar, giving orders to his clerk to arrange them, 
as in the annexed figure, so that each exter- 
17 1 nal row should contain nine. The clerk, how- 

y „ ever, took away twelve of them, at three differ¬ 

ent times; that is, four each time; yet, when 
17 1 the merchant went into the cellar, after each 

theft had been committed, the clerk always 
made him count nine in each row. How was this possible? 

This problem may be easily solved by inspecting the accompany¬ 
ing figures: 

2d Order. 3d Order. 4th Order. 


2 5 2 

5 5 

2 5 2 


3 3 3 

3 3 

3 3 3 


4 14 

1 1 

4 14 


THE PERILOUS GOBLET. 

To fill a glass with water, so that no one may touch it without 
spilling all the water. Fill a common wine-glass or goblet with 
water, and place upon it a bit of paper, so as to cover the water 
and edge of the glass; put the palm of your hand on the paper, 
and taking hold of the glass with the other, suddenly invert it on 
a very smooth table, and gently draw out the paper; the water 
will remain suspended in the glass, and it will be impossible to 
ttiove the glass, without spilling all the water. 

THE MYSTERIOUS BOTTLE. 

Pierce a few holes with a glazier’s diamond in a common black 
bottle; place it in a vase or jug of water so that the neck only is 
above the surface. Then, with a funnel, fill the bottle and cork it 
well while it is in the jug or vase. Take it out, and, notwithstand¬ 
ing the holes in the bottom, it will not leak; wipe it dry, and give 
it to some person to uncork. The moment the cork is drawn, to 
the party’s astonishment, the water will begin to run out of the 
bottom of the bottle. 

THE POISED PENNY. 

Place a smooth card on the tip of the middle finger of your left 
hand, and on it, nicely balanced, and with its center exactly over 
your finger’s point, a penny piece. Then, by a smart fillip with the 
middle finger of the right hand, you may strike away the card from 
under the penny, leaving the latter poised on the tip of your finger. 
A very little practice will enable you to do this trick without ever 
failing. The card must be carefully struck, so as to drive it straight 




78 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

off the finger; if you fillip it upward, it will, of course, take the 
penny with it. 


CHAPTER XII. 

EARNING MONEY. 

The month of March came in, as the old saying has it, “ like a 
lion.” 

It proved a stormy and disagreeable month, in which the greater 
number of days did not admit of our boys being much out of 
doors. 

The exceptional clear day, however, was always fine, and re¬ 
minded the boys of summer coming—a reminder that always 
brought up the ever-fruitful topic of camping-out when vacation 
time arrived. 

Another purpose it served was to spur the boys on in plans for 
making money to meet the expense of their trip. 

Many and ingenious were the plans having in view the earning of 
money for their treasury. 

Not only did the honorary members suffer, but their mothers 
were also laid under contribution by reason of the club’s adopting 
a resolution embodying the following tariff : 

“ Going to the store in excess of once a day—each time, 5 cents. 

“ Going on errands in excess of twice a day—each errand, 5 cents. 

“ Going to post office after the mail—per week, 10 cents. 

“ Doing odd jobs of all descriptions—each, 5 cents. 

By this means a considerable addition was made to the treasur¬ 
er’s account, although not as much as the boys earned in other 
ways. 

Ben’s mother one day tore her rubber waterproof, or storm- 
cloak—‘ gossamer ” she called it—and when she spoke of sending it 
to the city to be repaired, he quickly rejoined : 

“ Don’t be in a hurry about sending it to the city, mother. Wait 
a day or two and give me the opportunity of mending it if I can.” 

“ I doubt your ability to do so, Ben.” 

“But I can try, mother?” 

“Yes, if your experiments are not calculated to ruin my gos¬ 
samer completely.” 

“ They shall not. But, mother, how much is the job worth ?” 

“ I’m sure I do not know—possibly fifty cents.” 

“Well, if anybody can mend it for that sum and make a profit, I 
think I can. It only remains to discover a means by which it can 
be done.” 

Ben did not have as much trouble in learning how to mend the 
gossamer as he had anticipated. 

At the drug store he obtained one fluid ounce of bisulphide of 
carbon, and in this dissolved one drachm of gutta percha, the re¬ 
sult being a solution that quite readily filtered through blotting 
paper, the latter being done to remove the grosser impurities. 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. ?9 

He then took a piece of fine linen, large enough to cover the 
rent, and treated it to a coat of the solution, which was in reality a 
rubber cement. Immediately afterward he put a coat of cement 
over the torn place in the gossamer, and beyond that a distance all 
around of half an inch. 

When it had dried he repeated the operation, and continued to 
add another coat when the preceding one was dry, until in all five 
coats had been put on both linen patch and rent gossamer. 

The fifth coat being dry, he placed the linen patch under the 
rent, laid a thickness of cloth over it and applied a hot iron, ex¬ 
erting considerable pressure. The heat so far softened the cement 
that it amalgamated and retained the patch firmly in place. 

When Ben returned the gossamer to his mother it was hard for 
her to discover where it had been torn, and she very gladly gave 
him the promised fifty cents. 

The same day Harry earned a similar amount in this way: 

In their sitting room was a bracket that once had been quite an 
ornament, but which could hardly come under the term now, for 
it had lost all its freshness and varnish. 

“ I wish we had an ebony bracket to take the place of this,” 
Mrs. Amberly said, as she took down the bracket from the wall. 

“ What do you intend doing with that one, mother?” Harry in¬ 
quired. 

“ Almost anything—you can have it for your room if you care 
for it.” 

“Thank you, mother, I’ll take it. You say you would like an 
ebony bracket?” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Would one of about this style suit you ?” 

“Yes.” 

Harry departed with the bracket, a gleam of satisfaction in his 
eyes. To himself he said : 

“ I’ll ebonize this very bracket and return it to her.” 

Going to the workshop, he went over the bracket very carefully 
with fine sandpaper, so as to remove all dirt, varnish and grease. 
This being done, he paid a visit to a drug store, where he ob¬ 
tained some green copperas and logwood. 

Making a solution in water with the copperas, he gave the 
bracket four coats of the wash. When it had dried thoroughly he 
gave it three washings in a hot decoction of logwood—made by 
putting logwood chips in cold water and gradually bringing it to 
near the boiling point. 

The result of this treatment of the bracket was that it now was 
a beautiful deep, dead black. It yet needed a finish, however, 
which was added by taking it when dry, and washing it thor¬ 
oughly with warm water and a sponge, followed by a rubbing 
with linseed oil. 



80 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


“ What are you making, Joe ?” Harry inquired, as he was on the 
way from the workshop with the ebonized bracket. 

“ A buzzer,” was the reply. 

“What is that?” 

“ Eh ?” and Joe looked up in surprise. “Didn’t you ever see a 
buzzer ?” 

“No.” 

“Well, I’ll have one done in five minutes, if you will wait.” 

“ All right. Go ahead, and I’ll see what you do.” 

Joe had in his hand a piece of tin which he had just cut into a 
circular shape. 

With a pair of compasses he found the exact center of the tin, 
and there made a mark. 

A quarter of an inch from the center point he made a small hole 
with a sharp punch. He made another hole opposite the first, and 
the same distance beyond the center mark. 

Passing the end of a string through one hole and bringing it 
back through the other, he tied the two ends. Now sliding the 
buzz to a point midway of the length of the double cord he made 
a few swift passes with his hands that caused the two strings to 
twist, one over the other. Then, extending his hands to draw the 
cord tight, it began to unwind rapidly, and the tension being re¬ 
laxed at the proper juncture it wound up in the reverse direction. 
As he repeated the movement of tightening and relaxing the 
string, the buzz flew round with a whizz-z-z-z, whizz-z-z-z dear to 
ihe heart of every boy who has made one. 

Some little distance away sat Harry’s brother—our fat and 
cheery Charley. 

Looking up he inquired : 

“What have you thei*e, Joe—a buzz?” 

“Yes.” 

“ I have something here that will beat it all hollow.” 

“What’s that?” 

“ A cricket.” 

Harry and Joe posted themselves beside Charley, and were in¬ 
terested spectators. 

Charley had broken off the top of a soda water bottle, and had 
rubbed the neck end on a stone until he had ground it smooth up 
to the under side of the heavier top-rim into which the cork fits. 

Over this he had tightly stretched a piece of kid—obtained from 
an old kid glove—into which he had punctured two pin holes, 
equi-distant from the center. 

At the moment the other boys paused beside him he was about 
to pass a long black horse hair through one of these pin-holes, 
from the top downward. Doing so, he caught the end when it 
came below the glass, and after a little trouble succeeded in passr 
ing the end back through the other hole. 

He now took up a round bit of wood, about the size and length 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 81 

of a penholder, and near one end cut a groove around it with his 
pocket-knife. 

Into this groove he now tied the two ends of the single horse 
hair, and haviug wet it in his mouth, he stood up and began mov¬ 
ing his arm in such a manner as to cause the glass to swing in a 
circle, and at once came a shrill, chirping sound that cannot be 
represented by type. 

While the three boys were admiring the tone—as to strength and 
quality—of the cricket, Ben put in an appearance. 

“ I have been making something as well as the rest of you,” he 
remarked. 

“What have you been making?” was the query from all. 

“A jigger-spin.” 

“What’s that?” 

“ Oh! only a little top, made out of a four-sided bit of wood, 
that I shaved down at the bottom to a point, and on top of which 
I left a thin stem to spin it by.” 

“ Why didn’t you make it round—it has four square sides.” 

“ I made it that way purposely,” returned Ben. 

“ I see there is a letter on each of the four sides.” 

“ Yes.” 

“ What do they mean ?” 

“ Why, here is P—that means ‘ put.’ T means ‘ take.’ A means 
‘ all.’ N means ‘ none.’ ” 

“None what? What is it for, anyhow?” 

“ It is to be used in playing for pins. Got some, Harry ?” 

“A couple.” 

“Then suppose we play. Put down a pin alongside of mine.” 
Harry did so, and Ben spun the little top. When it fell, the side 
bearing the letter “ P ” was upward. 

“ That means that I must put down another pin,” laughed Ben, 
and he laid down another beside the two already on the work¬ 
bench. 

Harry now spun the top, and the letter “ N ” came upward. Ben 
said: 

“ That means none, and you neither take away any nor put any 
down. Now it’s my spin again.” 

This time the letter “T” was upward when the top dropped 
over. 

“ That means take one, and suiting the action to the word, he 
took up a pin. 

Harry spun the top again and the letter “A” showed. 

“ That means all—in other words you are to take all the pins that 
are down. Sometimes there will be as many as a dozen pins be¬ 
fore some fellow is lucky enough to get “ A.” 

Just then the slamming of the door caused the boys to glance in 
its direction. 

George was just entering. On his arm he had a basket, which 




8 a 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


on examination was found tcvcontain five dozen dumpy-looking 
square glass bottles. 

“What are they for, George ?” was asked by more than one 
voice. 

“They are to be filled with ink.” 

“Ink ?” 

“ Yes. While you fellows have been idling away your time, I 
have been working. I’ll tell you what I did. I found out a way to 
make violet ink, and I made some. I then took it to the stationers, 
and he pronounced it as good as any he could buy, and ended by 
making mp an offer for some that will yield me a handsome 
profit.” 

“Is that so ?” 

“ It is. And I’ve already ordered the labels for the bottles. The 
printer promised I should have them in two days. Now I’m going 
to work to make the ink.” 

Although the boys thought it quite wonderful that George had 
discovered a way to make ink that had a commercial value, it was 
nevertheless a very simple operation. 

George took five drachms of aniline violet and put it into a glass 
jar with seven fluid ounces of alcohol. This was permitted to 
stand for three hours. Seventy fluid ounces of distilled water 
had meanwhile been prepared, and into this the other mixture 
was poured. The whole was then subjected to a gentle heat, and 
not allowed to|cool until the odor of alcohol had entirely disap¬ 
peared, which was due to the heat having vaporized and driven it 
off. Twenty drachms of pure gum arabic, previously dissolved in 
fifteen fluid ounces of water, and now added. The ink was made! 
When cool it was ready to strain and bottle. 

On the transaction George made just an even two dollars. 

He afterward made and sold red ink to the stationer, which he 
made by first adding one ounce of powder cochineal to a pint of 
hot water, mixing it thoroughly; after it was cold, he added 
three fluid ounces spirits of hartshorn. After permitting it to 
stand a week, he then strained and bottled it, gummed on a neat 
label, and it was ready for the stationer’s shelves. 

The last few days in March proved most glorious ones for out of 
door enjoyment, and the boys determined, if it remained fine, to 
have a game of “ Hare and Hounds ” on the coming Saturday. 

The day was all that could be wished, and Uncle Frank, who had 
come out to witness the start, called the boys around him by 
means of a shrill whistle that he had that morning made, and 
which the boys all demanded should be explained before they 
started. 

It was only an ordinary hazelnut shell, off of which he had 
ground the white part and then extracted the meat. This he held 
between the knuckles of the first and second fingers of his right 
hand, the ends of the fingers being bent downward into the palm. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 83 

On bringing the shell, thus held between the knuckles, to his lips 
and blowing into it, such a shrill whistle was the result that under 
some oircumstances it might have been heard a quarter of a mile 
or further. 

“ Well, boys, are you ready now ?” inquired Uncle Frank 

“ Yes.” 

“ Let the hare get ready.” 

Ben Walden, who was to be the hare, announced himself as pre¬ 
pared for the race, and a minute later was bounding away, scat¬ 
tering bits of white paper as he went. 

He was allowed a start of five minutes, and then the hounds 
“ took the scent ” and away they went. 

Hare and hounds is a game that can hardly be toa strongly corns 
mended for boys. It is a healthful, robust, mirthful game, and 
withal very simple. One boy represents a hare and runs away, 
while the others represent the hounds that pursue him. 

The hare should not be the best runner, but he should be daring 
and quick-witted and know how to take advantage of every favor¬ 
ing circumstance. A huntsman and a whipper-in are two im¬ 
portant persons in the chase. The huntsman should be the best 
player, and the whipper-in second best. The hare is furnished 
with a large bag of white paper torn into small squares, which he 
scatters on the ground as he goes. An arrangement is made that 
the hare shall not cross his path, nor return home until a certain 
time; in either of which cases he is considered caught. The hounds 
also are bound to follow the track or scent implicitly, and not to 
make short cuts if they see the hare. The hare then starts, and 
has about five minutes’ grace, at the expiration of which time the 
huntsman may blow a horn, and sets off, the hounds keeping 
nearly in Indian file, the whipper-in bringing up the rear. The 
huntsman is also furnished with a white flag, the whipper-in with 
a red one. Off they go merrily enough, until at last the huntsman 
loses the scent. He immediately shouts “lost!” on which the 
whipper-in sticks his flag in the ground where the scent was last 
seen, and the entire line walks or runs round in a circle, within 
which they are tolerably sure to find the track. The huntsman in 
the meanwhile has stuck his flag in the ground, and examines the 
country to see in what direction the hare is likely to have gone. 
When the track is found, the player who discovers it shouts “ tally 
ho!” the hunsman takes up his flag, and ascertains whether it is 
really the track or not. If so he blows his horn or gives the word 
again, the hounds form in line between the two flags, and off they 
go again. It is incredible how useful the two flags are. Many a 
hare has been lost because the hounds forgot where the last track 
was seen, and wasted time in searching for it again. Moreover, 
they seem to encourage the players wonderfully. 

Ben proved a very masterly hare, and succeeded in arriving 


84 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

safely home to the vexation of the hounds, seeing which he said in 
a burst of generosity: 

“ Never mind, boys, we’ll try it over again some Saturday and 
I’ll let you catch me.” 

“ You might as well not run, then,” growled Joe, and the others 
cried : 

“ You are right, Joe!” 


CHAPTER XIII. 

BASEBALL,. 

The members of The Make and Mend Club would not have 
been American boys had not they felt a keen interest in matters 
pertaining to baseball, and as soon as the weather became settled 
in the spring, they divided themselves between the two rival clubs 
of the school they attended. 

As the boys all desired to play a game that was scientific so far 
as they could make it so, they called on Mark Stedman to put in 
shape a set of rules for their guidance. 

Mark consulted the rules of the professional clubs and con¬ 
densed them to answer their own requirements, but without in 
any wise conflicting with letter or spirit. 

Hence the boy interested in baseball can accept the following 
rules as covering all the points of a purely professional game. 

PLAYING RULES OF THE RINGVALE SCHOOL BASEBALL CLUBS. 

Rule 1. (1). The ball must not weigh less than five, nor more 
than five and a quarter ounces, and must measure between nine 
and nine and a quarter inches in circumference. 

(2) . The ball shall be furnished by the home club, and becomes 
the property of the winning club. 

(3) . In case of the ball becoming torn or out of shape during a 
game, it shall be replaced at the termination of an even in¬ 
nings. 

Rule 2. (1). The bat must be wholly of wood. 

(2) The bat must be round, not more than two and one-half 
inches in diameter at the thickest part, and less than forty-two 
inches in length. 

Rule 3. The infield must be thirty yards square. 

Rule 4. (1). The bases must be four in number, first, second, 
third, and home base. 

(2). The bases—except the home base—must be made of canvas, 
painted white, and filled with some soft material. They must also 
be secured in their respective positions. 

Rale 5. The umpire is sole and absolute judge, and his decisions 
are not to be appealed from save by the captains of the contend¬ 
ing nines, and no other player shall approach or address the um¬ 
pire unless requested to do so—under penalty provided. 

Rule 6. The players of each club shall be nine in number, one of 
whom shall be the captain. 

Rule 7. A high ball is one that passes over the home plate, that 
is above the line of the batman’s hip, but is lower than his 
shoulder. 

Rule 8. A low ball is one that passes over the home plate on a 
line between the batsman’s hip and knee. 



THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 85 

.Rule 9. A fair ball is a ball sent in by the pitcher, from within 
the lines of his position, being delivered by his hand on a line be¬ 
low the shoulder and passing over the home plate at the height 
called for by the batsman. 

Rule 10. A dead ball is one that, without being struck at, 
touches any part of his clothing or person, or touches any part of 
the clothing or person of the umpire. 

Rule 11. A fair hit is one in which the ball, struck by the bats¬ 
man, falls inside the foul lines; unless, it being struck directly 
to the ground, it bounds back within the foul lines without hav¬ 
ing touched the person of anybody or met with an obstruction. 

Rule 12. A foul hit is one when the ball is struck by the bats¬ 
man and drops outside the foul lines. 

Rule 13. (1). A strike is called when the batsman strikes at with¬ 
out hitting the ball; or, 

(2). A ball answering the requirements of the batsman as to 
height, and which passes fairly over the home plate, but at which 
he does not strike for any reason whatever. 

Rule 14. A foul strike is a ball struck by the batsman when he 
may be standing in any other than his proper position. 

Rule 15. Play, is the umpire’s order for. beginning the game, or 
renewing it after a suspension. 

Rule 16. Time, is the umpire’s order to cease playing, a suspen¬ 
sion being rendeied necessary by reason of rain or injury to a 
player. Such suspension, however, must not extend beyond the 
day of the game. 

Rule 17. An inning is the turn of each playing nine at the bat, 
and continues from the time the first batsman takes his place 
until three have been “ put out.” 

Rule 18. A game consists of nine innings to each side, except in 
case of a tie, when such other innings shall be played as may be 
necessary for one side or the other to win. 

Rule 19. A substitute shall not be allowed to take another play¬ 
er’s place unless such player shall have, by reason of sickness or 
injury, become unable to continue in the game. 

Rule 20. (1). The base runner must touch the bases in the regular 
order ot first, second, third and home bases, and having left the 
base and being obliged to return must retouch it. 

(2) . The base runner can take a base without being put out in 
case a batsman is given his base on “ called balls,” thus forcing 
him off. 

(3) . The base runner cannot have a substitute take his ptace, ex¬ 
cept in case of accident and with the consent of the opposing club. 

(4) . The baserunner is out if he has hit a ball that is caught and 
held by a fielder; or, 

(5) . If the umpire has declared three strikes on him; or, 

(6) . If he fails to run for first base on the decision being made; or, 

(7) . If on running to first base he runs more than three feet out¬ 
side the foul lines (unless to avoid a fielder engaged in trying to 
reach a ball); or, 

(8) . If he shall be touched by the ball in the hand of a fielder at 
a time when he is not touching a base with some partof his person; 
or, 

(9) . If he leaves a base at the moment a batsman makes a fair hit 
and the ball is caught before touching the ground, and is then 
fielded to the base he just quitted before he returns and touches it; 
or, 

(10) . In case he does not return and touch his base after a foul 
ball has been called by the umpire; or, 

( 11). If he permits himself to be struck by a fair ball; or, 

(12). If after a suspension he does not return when the umpire 


86 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

calls play and touch the base occupied when the suspension 
occurred. 

Rule 21. A dead ball being declared by the umpire no player can 
be put out, or run be scored. 

Rule 22. (1). An umpire shall, before the game begins, see that 
the ground and all appurtenances are according to rules provided 
for his government. 

(2) . He must keep the contesting nines at play, permitting no 
stoppages save such as are rendered necessary by rainfall, injury 
to a player, or other unavoidable accident. 

(3) . He is master of the field from the commencement to the 
termination of the game and is authorized to order that any player 
shall do, or omit to do, anything calculated to preserve the integ¬ 
rity of these rules. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

PREPARATIONS. 

During the latter part of April and the first two weeks in May 
the boys were all very busy over their school lessons, and found 
little time for anything else. 

Such spare time as they did have after school hours was for the 
most part spent in doing chores of various kinds for the sake of the 
money it brought them. Charley declared the treasury of The 
Make and Mend Club was as “fat” as he was, and that it was 
time to cry “ enough!” The others, however, did not agree with 
him. 

Indeed, the only really practical thing that was done in May was 
the construction by Harry of a telescope. “A telescope!” you 
exclaim. Perhaps you think such an instrument beyond a boy’s 
ability to make. 

Yet Harry did it. Of course it was not a highly-polished brass 
affair, with lots of fine-threaded screw-joints and the like, yet it 
was every whit as good as one that would have cost him ten or 
twelve dollars. 



Fig. 74. 

B. The eye-Rlass, a plano-convex lens. 

C. Concave lens. 

E. The object glass, a convex lens of about five feet focus. 

Being uncertain as to what would be the result of his attempt 
to make a telescope, Harry went to work to produce the cheapest 
possible one, and having taken a sheet of pasteboard he first gave 
it a coat of thinned black Japan varnish, when which was dry he 
put it into proper widths and made three tubes like 1, 2, 3 kgurp 








THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 87 

74. Had he been sure of meeting with success he could with ad¬ 
vantage have had the tubes made of tin. 



Fig. 75. 


Tube 1 is to be made four or five inches long; tube 2 the same 
length; tube 3 seven inches; tube 1 must be sufficiently smaller 
than 2 to slide into it, and 2 sufficiently smaller than 3 to slide into 
that. The edges of the cardboard must be secured by glue instead 
of mucilage, the latter being hardly strong enough for the pur¬ 
pose. 

The glasses may be fixed to the end by cutting two circular 
pieces of cardboard, as “ g,” to each lens; the outer edge must be 
larger than the lens in diameter, and one must be glued on either 
side of the glass; the outer edges of the circular cards will then 
adhere together. These can be glued on the ends of the tubes, and 
will thereby hold the glasses in their proper position. 

These three glasses can be obtained at any optician’s at a cost of 
from twenty-five to fifty cents each. 

The ends, “a,” “d,” and “f ” will slide one within the other, and 
must then have a circular card, as “g,” but of the same size as the 
tubes it has to fit, glued to the end. This will prevent the one cyl¬ 
inder being drawn one from the other. 

This telescope, in focussing a planet, will be made free from all 
false light by putting out the tube 1, and pushing the tube 2 nearer 
the object glass, “ e.” 

Through this telescope may be viewed the satellites of Saturn, 
and also the dark belt across the body of the planet. 

This planet shines with a dull, pale light, and his distance is more 
than nine hundred millions of miles from the sun, and his 
journey round that luminary takes thirty years. 

In looking at the sun, a piece of dark-colored or smoked glass 
must be used before the eye-piece of the telescope, or the strength 
of the sun’s light will dazzle the eye. 

Should the weather be foggy, or a light cloud pass before the sun 
the colored glass may be dispensed with. 

On the sun several spots may be observed by the aid of this 
glass, but if watched they will be found to vary in form, and to 
fade away entirely, new ones appearing in their places. 

The telescope was a nine days’ wonder among the boys, and 
many were the experiments they tried with it; to Harry’s great 
delight it successfully met every test that was applied. 

All the time the boys could spare from their lessons in June was 
devoted tcrpreparations for celebrating the Fourth of July, and 
for the trip to the country that would follow not long after. 

For his share of the celebration on the Fourth Ben Walden made 
six fire balloons out of tissue paper. 









88 


THE make; and mend club. 

The way he did this was to cut fourteen gores of papers, each of 
which was shaped like an elongated section of a pear. The edges 
were lapped and secured by mucilage, and into the bottom was 
fixed a circular hoop of very light wire, together with two cross¬ 
pieces. 

The mode of sending up these fire balloons is to wet a little 
wad of cotton in alcohol, tie it to the center of the cross-pieces, 
and having first bellied the vellum with air, then touching a match 
to the cotton, the balloon meantime being held in a perpendicular 
position. 

As the heat from the burning alcohol rises into the interior of 
the balloon, it starts upward with a bound, and, after reaching a 
great height, usually takes fire and burns. 

Among them the other boys made quite a quantity of fireworks, 
for which Uncle Frank furnished the formula. 

We append this, at the same time advising that any boy trying 
to make fireworks will observe the utmost caution. 

HOW TO MAKE TOUCH-PAPER. 

Dissolve in a little spirits of wine or vinegar a little saltpeter, 
then take some purple or blue paper, and wet it with the above 
liquor and it will be fit for use. When pasting paper on any of the 
following works take care that the paste does not touch the part 
which is to burn. The method of using this paper is to cut it into 
slips long enough to go once around the mouth of a serpent, 
cracker, etc. 

CASES FOR SQUIBS, FLOWER-POTS, ROCKETS, ROMAN CANDLES, ETC. 

Procure a hard wooden cylinder, or, if possible, one made of 
metal, whose diameter corresponds with that of the interior of the 
proposed case. Roll round it several folds of cartridge paper, aud 
paste the edges well, so that it may be held securely. Tie it round 
until dry. 

TO CHOKE THE CASES. 

This is best done while the cases are wet, and consists in drawing 
in one end tightly, so as to permit only the passage of a thin twist 
of the touch-paper. 

COMPOSITION FOR SQUIBS, ETC. 

Gunpowder, half a pound; charcoal, one ounce ; brimstone, one 
ounce, or in like proportion; grind them in a muller or pound 
them in a mortar. Or you may take one part steel filings, one char¬ 
coal, one sulphur, and four powder, which is a very good mixture, 
and can be rubbed together in a mortar. 

HOW TO FILL THE CASES. 

Your cases must be very dry when ready, and should be put 
into an iron or wooden mold; first put in a thimble full of your 
powder, and ram it down very hard with your ruler; then put in a 
little more till the case is full, ramming it down hard every time. 
If you have no mold, hold the case in your left hand with the 
twisted touch-paper downwards, and fill it after the same manner 


89 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

When you have filled within an inch of the top, fill up this with 
loose powder not rammed, for a bang, and fold in the ends; after 
filling a dozen or two melt some pitch in a small ladle, and smear 
the ends of the case with it by means of a small brush. 

ROMAN CANDLES AND STARS. 

These are best made with the following ingredients: one ounce 
of powder, one of sulphur, and two ounces of nitre. Some persons 
however, prefer one part sulphur, one charcoal, one iron filings, 
four of powder, and eight of nitre. The composition being made 
in filling the cases fill the contrary way to a squib—stop up the 
choke by driving down a piece of paper. Put in one quill of gun¬ 
powder loose and one star made in the following manner: one 
ounce of camphor, one of sulphur, two of meal powder, one ounce 
of colored fires, moisten them with oil of turpentine, and work 
them into little round balls. Having placed a star within the case, 
put in above it three quills of the composition, ram down, then 
powder, star, and composition alternately till the case is full. 
Paste touch paper round the top and twist to a point. 

CATHERINE WHEELS. 

These are very pretty fireworks, and are made to turn on a 
pivot. There are many recipes for the composition of which they 
are formed; one part camphor, one sulphur, one nitre, two meal 
powder. Another is, three parts iron filings, four sulphur, twelve 
nitre, sixteen meal powder. This composition is to be rammed 
into small cases, and bound round a small wheel, having a hole for 
a pivot in the center. 

VARIOUS COLORED FIRES. 

The following recipes are for a great variety of the most beauti¬ 
ful fires. They should never be fired in a room, however, and al¬ 
ways away from a dwelling. 

CRIMSON FIRE. 

The principal ingredient in this is nitrate of strontium, of which 
forty parts are taken, with thirteen of sulphur, fifteen of chlorate 
of potassa, four of sulphuret of antimony, and two of lamp-black. 
These, as all the ingredients for the other fires, should be rubbed 
in a ladle, and they may be used in a ladle or iron dish set on the 
ground. 

BLUE FIRE. 

The ingredients of blue fire are twenty parts; twelve of nitre, 
four of sulphur, two of sulphuret of antimony, and two of lamp¬ 
black. 

GREEN FIRE. 

The ingredients for green fire are in fifty-four parts; forty- 
two of nitrate of barytes, eight of sulphur, three of chlorate of 
potassa, and one of lamp-black. 

PURPLE FIRE. 

The best recipe for purple fire is of sixty parts; twenty-five 


90 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


of nitre, twenty-five of nitrate of strontian, seven of sulphur, two 
of realgor, and one of lamp-black. 

WHITE FIRE. 

The best and purest white fire is made of twenty-four parts of 
nitre, seven of sulphur, two of red arsenic, and one of lamp-black. 

SPUR FIRE. 

Nine parts of nitre, four of sulphur, and three of lamp-black,well 
rubbed together. 

BLUE LIGHTS. 

These are made of four parts of sulphur, two of nitre, and one of 
powder, and are rammed into squib-cases the contrary way. 

PORT OR WILDFIRES. 

Saltpeter four parts, meal powder six parts, and sulphur three 
parts. The composition to be moistened with linseed oil. 

SLOW FIRE FOR WHEELS. 

Saltpeter four parts, sulphur two parts, and meal powder two 
parts. 

DEAD FIRE FOR WHEELS. 

Saltpeter five parts, sulphur one part, lapis calaminaris one part, 
and antimony one part. 

CAUTION. 

Such are the principles and methods by which fireworks may be 
made; but we would advise our young friends to be very cautious, 
and never to attempt making any fireworks by candle-light; al¬ 
ways to select some outhouse for their operations; to see that no 
iron or steel implements are about the place in which their fire¬ 
works are being manufactured, or they may go off before they 
wish it; to use wooden or brass implements in the bruising, grind¬ 
ing and sifting of their mixtures; and never to bring the fire¬ 
works, or any of their ingredients, into the dwelling-house. 


CHAPTER XV. 

OFF FOR THE COUNTRY. 

School was over for the summer. Our boys had all acquitted 
themselves with credit, and to the perfect satisfaction of their re¬ 
spective fathers. At once preparations were begun for making 
the grand trip to the country. 

Several visits were made to the city by Uncle Frank and the 
boys for the purchase of things necessary for their camp. The 
tent they obtained the use of without expense, which was consid¬ 
erable of a saving to the treasury of The Make and Mend Club, 
which it will be remembered was to stand all expenses of this sum¬ 
mer jaunt. 

Had the purchase of a tent been necessary the boys would have 
stood dismayed at the cost, and would have found very little cash 
on hand with which to purchase the other necessaries. These 
were not few in number by any means, and if the boys had not 




THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


91 


possessed such confidence in Uncle Frank, they certainly would 
have thought that he was purchasing many useless things. How¬ 
ever, be it said here, the boys afterward found use for everything 
that he bought, even to needle and a spool of thread. 

It was on a lovely afternoon in mid July that the boys bade their 
parents good-by at the railroad depot. Of course they were happy 
and excited over the prospect of getting off, but not until the last 
minute did they realize how hard it was to part with their moth¬ 
ers, from whom they had none of them ever before been separat¬ 
ed. And it is not to their discredit that tears stood in their eyes 
when the train moved out of the depot with them in a passenger 
car and their traps in the baggage car ahead. 

Their destination was a mountainous spot one hundred and 
seventy miles from home. The station at which they left the cars 
was situated right in a wilderness, or rather on the edge of one. 

They spent the night in a shanty that was by courtesy called a 
hotel. The table was anything but a hotel table, but their long 
journey had made the boys very hungry, and they did ample jus¬ 
tice to the fried ham and eggs and corn bread. 

Later on in the evening Uncle Frank made arrangements with a 
farmer of the neighborhood to take them and their traps in his big 
farm wagon back into the mountains a dozen miles or so to a 
stream that bore the reputation of being well stocked with fine 
trout. 

After an early breakfast of bacon and boiled eggs, corn bread 
and coffee, the boys clambered on top of the already loaded traps, 
Uncle Frank seated himself beside the driver, and the big framed 
horse stepped slowly onward in response to an order to “gee up.” 

It was well on in the forenoon when they reached the vicinity 
where it was intended to go into camp. 

There was considerable skirmishing around in quest of a suit¬ 
able place for a camp, in which the boys joined, having been in¬ 
structed by Uncle Frank as to the desirable points for a camping 
ground. 

Charley was the person whose site was selected, after compari¬ 
sons had been made between half a dozen that the discoverers 
thought answered all the requirements. 

To get to this spot it was necessary to clear away the under¬ 
brush so that the horse and wagon could get through, which 
brought into use the ax that the boys had wondered at Uncle 
Frank’s purchasing. 

“ You will find other uses for it before we leave for home,” he 
said, when the fact was mentioned. 

The wagon having been brought near to the spot selected for the 
camp, the traps were unloaded, and all hands went to work with a 
will to provide the shelter necessary, unless they desired to pass 
the night with no other roof above them than the sky. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


32 

The farmer’s return until the next day was not to be thought of, 
and his assistance proved invaluable. 

With the ax, in making stakes for the tent, he did a Trojan’s 
work. 

It was not until night had fairly fallen that the tent was ready 
for occupancy, although it is not to be understood that everything 
was complete, since there yet remained much to do before things 
could be said to be in the best shape. 

Uncle Frank saw that the boys were all pretty well “ tuckered 
out,” as he expressed it to the farmer, so he went to work and 
himself cooked the supper, although he did not intend thereafter 
to fill the position of cook. 

Never before in their lives had the boys slept any sounder than 
they did on this first night in the wilderness, wrapped up in their 
blankets. 

At the weight of these they had laughed before leaving home, 
where they had been suffering from the heat for some weeks past, 
but they were now found to be not one ounce too heavy for com¬ 
fort, which went to prove that Uncle Frank was far wiser than 
they. 

The sun was just showing a red rim above the eastern horizon 
the next morning when the boys were aroused by Uncle Frank. 
Not one of them responded with any too much alacrity, although 
all save Charley got up after yawning and stretching a little. 

Finding that Charley had gone off to sleep again, Uncle Frank 
quietly procured a cup of cold water from a brook near by, and 
began pouring it down on the sleeper’s face. 

The effect was magical. 

Charley was wide awake in an instant, and although the manner 
of his awaking was not any too pleasant he took it good-humoredly, 
for Uncle Frank had told them all the day before that he should 
do precisely this, if any of them failed to respond to the summons 
to get up at sunrise. 

The boys being all gathered together, Uncle Frank said: 

“Last night, seeing you were all very tired, I prepared supper 
myself without saying anything about it; but this morning we 
must make some arrangement among ourselves as to who shall be 
cook.” 

“ We must take turns at it, mustn’t we ?” inquired Joe. 

“Yes.” 

“ And you now want to arrange some system and find out who 
is to take first turn ?” 

“Precisely. Now then, it can be settled almost anyway you 
please, but 1 have to suggest that the turns be made of one day 
each, and if you wish I will take first turn.” 

“That doesn’t suit at all!” said Mark. 

“Why not?” 

“Because we do not propose to have you work for us boys,’* 


93 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

was the reply. “No, Uncle Frank, we shall lea\e you out and 
divide the rough work among ourselves.” 

In this sentiment the other boys all concurred heartily, and it 
was settled that Uncle Frank should play gentleman, Harry re¬ 
marking : 

“ It would be a pity if we could not support one gentleman 
among us.” 

It was finally arranged between the boys that Charley should be 
cook for the first day. and accordingly Charley brought water and 
put the kettle over the fire to boil—the fire having been this morn¬ 
ing made by the farmer, who had stood by, with a grin on his 
face, while the matter of cooking was being discussed. 

Charley could not be said to be a first-class cook, but he managed 
to make some passable coffee, which was the principal thing just 
now, since they had a sufficiency of cold food with them to render 
it unnecessary to cook victuals for a day or two. 

After breakfast all hands went to work again where they had 
left off the night before, and by ten o’clock the camp was in fair 
shape. 

The farmer now left them, bidding them all a hearty good-by, 
his eyes lighted with a merry knowing twinkle as he shook hands 
with the boys. 

It was a twinkle which as much as said that they would not find 
camping-out as much of a picnic as they probably supposed it to 
be, and that they would, on the contrary, discover that there was 
not a little hard work in connection with it. 

To be brief, it did not take them long to ascertain this to be a 
fact. 

Camping-out is not all play by any means, and a naturally lazy 
boy would not need more than a couple of days of it to be ready to 
cry “enough!” 

After dinner, Uncle Frank brought forth the fishing-rods and 
tackle, and with the assistance of the boys proceeded to put it 
in order for the expedition of the next day. 

The rods were first jointed together to see that they were perfect, 
and then the reels were tested and afterward properly adjusted 
to their positions on the rods. 

“ Now, then,” said Uncle Frank, “let me give you some practical 
instruction about getting your lines into shape. The principal 
things necessary with a trouting-line is that it shall have a free run 
through the little rings attached to each joint of your poles, and 
that it shall be so arranged at the end to admit of handily and eas¬ 
ily changing the snells. If each of you will take a line, I will show 
you a simple way of doing this last.” 

The boys all took their lines and prepared to follow Uncle 
Frank’s instructions. 

“ First of all make a knot at the end of the lines,” he said. 

It took the boya oply a inijmte to put a tight knot at the very 


94 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


end of the lines, which was done exactly as though they were about 
to sew on a button and were adding a knot at the end of the thread 
to prevent it slipping through the cloth. 



12 3 4 


Fig. 76. 

“ If you are all ready,” said Uncle Frank, “ you will proceed to 
make a loose loop like this (Fig. 1), which, as you can see, If drawn 
up, would make a tight knot like the one already tied in the ends 
of the lines.” 

Waiting until all the boys had fixed the loops properly, he went 
on: 

“ Pass the loose end of the line to the back of the loop and bring 
it down through (Fig. 2) like this, which, you will see, is a very 
simple thing.” 

It was a simple thing, indeed, and yet we have known those who 
consider themselves veteran fishermen who have never learned 
how to make this really valuable knot. 

“You are now ready, I see, so I will go on with the third princi¬ 
ple of the knot. You take the loose end again, and take a turn 
with it around the long part of your line (Fig. 3), when, by placing 
your finger in the loop at the end you will draw the whole down 
into a firm knot. Yet, while firm, it can easily be undone, or, if 
you consider that a trouble, you can cut it off when about to reel 
up your line and the waste will not have been much.” 

When the boys had shown themselves adept in making these 
knots Uncle Frank showed them how they could then secure the 
snells to the line quickly and neatly, which was of course the 
reason for making the loops in the ends of the lines. 



Fig. 77. 

Let “ a ” “ b ” represent the two loops. Take loop “ a ” and pass it through loop 
“ b,” after which pass free end of “ b ” upward through “ a ” and draw tight. 

“ You take the line in your left hand and the snell in your right. 
You pass the loop of the snell over that of the line, then bring the 
book up through the loop of the line and draw on both line and 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


95 

snell, and as the loops slide together they lock themselves so firmly 
that accidents, other than those arising from the breaking of the 
line or gut, are impossible.” 

The lines being all in readiness for the morrow’s sport, the boys 
devoted the remainder of the day to having a good time in general. 
They had running matches, jumping matches, feats of skill of 
various kinds, which diversions resulted in a famous appetite for 
supper, so that even Charley’s badly fried ham tasted delicious. 

Watching the hungry boys with a smile, Uncle Frank remarked: 

“ When did any one of you boys ever have such appetites?” 

“ It is a new experience to me,” laughed Joe. 

“ I believe I could eat a piece of sole-leather and think it a ten¬ 
derloin,” remarked Harry, with his mouth full of the dreadfully 
salt ham. 

The evening proving to be chilly, they built a fire on the ground 
and lolled around it in regular hunter and backwoodsman fashion, 
and their active imaginations made it a not difficult thing to think 
of themselves as to the “ manner born.” 

Uncle Frank was coaxed into telling them stories relating to his 
roving life, and almost ere they knew it the hour of nine had 
arrived, which was the time appointed for “ turning in.” 

The next morning Ben was to take his place as cook, so he was 
astir before the sun rose; by the time the first rays of the god of 
day peered down into the camp, he had breakfast ready. 

As soon as breakfast was over, Uncle Frank and all the boys, 
excepting Ben, started off to the fishing p round, which was not far 
away. Directions were given Ben so that he could readily find 
them after he had finished washing the dishes. 

Arrived at the bank of the clear mountain stream, the boys sepa¬ 
rated a little, and then at a shout from Uncle Frank cast in their 
lines. They did so simultaneously, that no one of them should 
have any advantage in obtaining such honor as would result from 
catching the first trout. 

Harry proved to be the fortunate individual. 

“ I’ve got him !” yelled Harry, as the trout took hold. “ Isn’t he 
a darling, though. Ginger, how he pulls !” 

The next instant a cry of dismay fell from his lips. .Somehow he 
lost control of the reel, and before he could stop it the trout had 
made a dart down stream and carried with him over a hundred 
feet of line. 

Hearing Harry’s cry Uncle Frank hastened to his side and began 
to coach him in playing and landing the trout. 

Every time the tension on the line slackened, Harry, acting 
under instructions, would reel in; whenever the trout felt inclined 
to race away, Harry simply held still and gave the trout such play 
as was possible without permitting the line to run out. 

In this way he gradually worked the trout nearer to him, and 
when he was close to the bank of the stream he was captured in 


96 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


the scap-net. It was a beauty, and Harry could never have landed 
it but for Uncle Frank’s assistance. 

As the boys gathered around the trout, they were boiling over 
with excitement. It was the first one they had ever seen taken 
from the water. 

When the excitement had in a measure subsided, Uncle Frank 
said: 

“Now, then, boys, off with the flies—that is all out, Harry.” 

“What for?” 

“ Well, trout are cunning fellows, and unless they are more than 
ordinarily hungry they will not rise to a fly that is not seasonable. 
That is to say, they will not in August take a fly that is natural to 
the month of June. For instance, one of the best flies a fisherman 
can get early in the season is the green drake or May fly, which 
trout then seem fairly greedy for, but at which they now will not 
even look, save under exceptional circumstances. The colors 
natural to this month are red and yellow, with possibly brown on 
occasion.” 

“That explains what I never before could understand, which is 
why so many kinds of artificial flies are considered necessary for 
an outfit,” said Mark. “ But, Uncle Frank, if what you say holds 
absolutely good, why is it that you should have added green flies 
to the collection when you know that all our fishing will be done 
in the months of July and August?” 

“A well put question, Mark; I like to have any of you ask ques¬ 
tions such as this. The reason why a full assortment of flies is 
considered necessary is because we sometimes find a locality that 
has some special fly, as for instance a fern fly, in which case you 
see we would want to match it, since a trout will always rise most 
readily to a fly such as belongs to the vicinity at the time. Now 
then, I was pretty sure that Harry would hook the first trout, be¬ 
cause I had noticed that the natural flies to be seen were most of 
them red.” 

“Then the scientific and intelligent way of fishing for trout is to 
observe what kinds of flies are to be seen in the neighborhood, and 
then match them as nearly as possible from the artificial ones on 
hand ?” 

“ Correct, but with this addition: If you cannot find a close 
match in your book of flies, go to work and make one. You 
should never be without materials to enable you to at least make a 
fly that will have the right colors, even if it should not be the 
exact shape, for the trout’s eye appears to be keener as regards 
color than shape.” 

By this time the boys had all got new flies fastened to their 
lines. 

Before permitting them to cast in again, Uncle Frank gave the 
boys a little further advice. He said: 

“ Without mentioning names, let me say that some of you make 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


97 


entirely to much fuss and noise in casting. Your rod and running 
tackle being in perfect order, there is no need for this; and keep 
in mind the idea that instead of wishing to thrash the water you 
merely want to tickle it. Always cast up stream and let your lly 
float down. A sharp eye is an essential in trout fishing, for you 
must try to see without being seen. A preferable piece of water is 
one the surface of which is slightly ruffled, and take your stand 
on that side of it which will bring the sun in your face, and your 
station as far from the stream as may be convenient. Let the fly 
rest lightly on the surface and float down it, and if a trout rises 
let a moment elapse before you strike, then do it sharply, and if 
he is hooked then begin to play him in toward the bank. Should 
you see a trout come to the surface, be quick and drop your fly 
about a couple of feet above his nose and the current will carry it 
toward him, when, if he is at all hungry and you have not made 
too much noise or fuss, he will take it on the instant. With these 
directions it appears to me that you ought to be able to catch 
trout, if any are to be caught.” 

This practical treatise on trout fishing bore good fruit, and Uncle 
Frank was honest in saying afterward that he had never come 
across an equal number of boys who could hook and land as many 
of the speckled beauties in the same length of time. 

The first day’s fishing resulted in every one of them having 
caught at least five trout, which is not bad as trouting goes. 

They were back in camp by a little after three at that, and after 
stowing away a good dinner they asked Uncle Frank to tell them 
about making artificial flies. 

This Uncle Frank gladly did. 



Fig. 80. 


Fig. 79. 


Fig. 78, 


“There are a great many flies,” he said, “and, as I told you, it is 
a good thing to be prepared to make some resembling those found 
in the vicinity of where you may be fishing, in case the fish will 
not take the flies you have on hand. However, the principal flies 
used are few in number, and are, first—a fly made of the wing of a 
woodcock with a turn of red about the head, a body of yellow 
silk, or \vhen casting in dark water with a scarlet body.” (Figure 
78,) ’ 


98 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


Selecting a fly such as he had described, Uncle Frank held it up 
for inspection. 

“ The next very useful fly is a gray one with a single turn of 
black, and dressed with*dark colored feathers” (Fig. 79), display¬ 
ing one as he spoke. 

“ Another very useful fly is one called the golden palmer (Fig. 
80) and is a fly easy to make, and is nearly all yellow. This will be 
an excellent fly for to-morrow’s fishing, I think. 

“ Here is a brown fly (Fig. 81) called the March brown, which a 
fisherman always depends on in its season. 



Fig. 81. Fig. 82. 

“ Lastly, here is the green drake, or May fly (Fig. 82), the best of 
all flies for fishing early in the season. 

“These five flies are those most depended on by the angler, and 
with these he is equipped for work, if he be able to make new flies 
such as are natural to the vicinity where he may be fishing. Or, 
he may fish with the natural flies themselves; in fact, the old fish¬ 
erman will remember many an occasion when the trout refusing 
absolutely to take an artificial fly, he would have been compelled 
to return empty handed, but for resorting to natural flies, which 
for some unknown reason the fish would rise to. At other times 
this will be reversed, and a trout will take an artificial fly and re¬ 
fuse a real one, which facts help to make trouting regarded as the 
most scientific of all Wishing.” 


CHAPTER XVI. 

AT THE LAKE. 

Two weeks of trout fishing was all the boys cared for, and they 
hailed with delight Uncle Frank’s proposition to move the camp 
to the edge of a lake about ten miles distant. 

They broke camp early one morning, and by night the traps 
were all at the lake, whither they were conveyed in the wagon of 
a farmer who lived about two miles away. 

The tent was put up again, it being more readily and easily done 
this time, as the boys now had some idea of what to do and how to 
go about it. 

About half a mile from the spot where they pitched their tent 
lived a farmer, his house being on the edge of the lake. 

He owned a couple of skiffs, one of which he was willing to rent 
to our party for a consideration. 




THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. f 99 

/A bargain was soon made, and the boat was rowed down to the 
camping-ground. 

“ What do we fish for here. Uncle Frank?” inquired Harry, as 
they all sat that evening just before bedtime on a rock that jutted 
into the lake. 

“ I am not sure what we shall find to be the best sport, but I am 
inclined to think that we shall find lake bass pretty plenty.” 

“ Flies are not to be used on them ?” 

“ No. We will use worms, crickets, roaches, little fishes, in fact, 
almost anything. Their natural food is minnows, as you boys call 
small fishes; and they will be our bait if we can get enough of 
them. And we may be able to hook a few pickerel, which you 
will find excellent sport.” 

At the extreme lower end of the lake, which was six miles in 
length, there was a little village, being a collection of half a dozen 
houses and a couple of stores. 

Some supplies being necessary, Uncle Frank and two of the boys 
rowed there the next morning. 

Among the purchases made by Uncle Frank was a large glass 
jar, a use for which the boys puzzled themselves considerably over. 
When they made some inquiry Uncle Frank only smiled and bade 
them wait. 

9 hat afternoon he set them to work catching minnows for the 
bait. 

They proved to be more plentiful than he had expected, and in 
a couple of hours the boys had secured at least three hundred. 

“ That will do for to-day,” said Uncle Frank. “Now, we must 
so arrange that they will be alive to-morrow, to be certain of 
which I will put them in this glass jar, tie a piece of mosquito net 
over them, and put the jar in the lake.” 

Suiting action to the words he dumped the minnows into the jar, 
tied the netting over the top, so that they could not escape, and 
then sunk the jar in the lake. 

Uncle Frank was up the next morning in advance of the boys. 
When Joe came out—he being cook that day, and the first astir— 
he saw Uncle Frank coming in from the lake, to the center of 
which he had been in the boat. 

After breakfast had been dispatched the boys got their tackle 
together and announced themselves as being ready whenever Un¬ 
cle Frank was. 

“You will have to be very careful,” warned Uncle Frank, as 
they one by one entered the skiff. “The boat is not calculated to 
carry safely so large a party as ours, and an incautious movement 
might result in some of us being spilled overboard. How many of 
you can swim ?” 

The question resulted in the information coming out that not 
one of the boys was a decent swimmer. 


100 7THE MAKE AND ME^DTCLUB.. 

Several of them could swim a few* hundred yards, but that was 
the limit. 

“That must be changed,” said Uncle Frank. “It will never do 
for us to go fishing on the lake unless you can all manage to take 
care of yourselves in case of accident. We must have some les¬ 
sons in swimming before long.” 

Just as the boat was being shoved off, Joe exclaimed: 

“ The bait, Uncle Frank! Have you forgotten it ?” 

“No.” 

“ I do not see it.” 

“ The minnows are there in that tin pail at your very feet.” 

“ I see the pail. But where is the glass jar ?” 

“Out in the lake.” 

“ In the lake?” 

“Yes.” 

Smiling to himself at the puzzled look that was to be observed 
in the faces of his young companions, Uncle Frank finally 
said: 

“ That glass jar was intended as a seducer.” 

“ A seducer ?” chorused the boys. 

“Yes.” 

“ What is that, Uncle Frank ?” 

“ I will explain as we go along. A good many years ago I was 
fishing on a little lake only a few miles from here, and although I 
was meeting with miserable success, there was an old man who 
might have been seen daily on the lake who always caught a fine 
string of fish. The fact puzzled me not a little, I can assure you, 
and the more I pondered over it the more puzzled I became. Well, 
to make a long story short, after I had tried the very bait he was 
using, had copied his every movement, but still without success, I 
went to him and asked him to explain the secret. 

“ After some persuasion he consented to take me into the secret, 
and told me of his seducer. He had rigged up a glass jar 
with a piece of net over it and filled with minnows, which he had 
sunk at a certain spot in the lake. 

“Now then, when the fish came swimming past and saw the 
minnows they would halt and try to get at them, which, of course, 
was impossible. 

“Lacking intelligence to understand why they could not reach 
the minnows, the bass would hang around until he dropped his 
baited hook to them, which they would seize eagerly. I have 
sunk just such a seducer in the lake out here, and we will soon see 
how it will work.” 

“ Have you ever tried it since the old man told you of it ?” in¬ 
quired Mark.” 

“ I have.” 

“ Did it work?” 

“ It nearly always did.” 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 101 

When the boat reached the position selected by Uncle Frank for 
sinking the seducer, which he knew by the ranges he had fastened 
in his mind, he ordered the boat halted. 

The water of the lake was surprisingly clear, and on gazing 
down into it on being told that this was the spot where the seducer 
had been sunk, one of the boys speedily discovered it. 

He discovered something else at the same time, which was that 
a number of large fish were swimming around the jar, and touch¬ 
ing their noses against the glass, while they probably addled their 
fish-brains trying to study out why they could not reach the 
tempting morsels they could so readily see. 

“Out with your lines, boys, and let us see who gets the first 
bass.” 

“ Are those big fellows bass ?” 

“Yes.” 

Only the fraction of a minute passed before the lines were over¬ 
board ; inside of ten seconds there came a howl of delight from 
two pairs of lips, and at precisely the same moment Ben and 
George each landed a fine bass. 

Beauties they were at that! 

The other boys were not far behind. Each of them had landed a 
fish before Ben and George could put on new baits and drop in 
again. 

A couple of hours of such fishing as this was all that any one 
could desire, and at the expiration of about that time they rowed 
back to the camp. 

The fish was now cleaned, and Uncle Frank entered into a con¬ 
sultation with Joe, the cook for the day, about cooking some of 
them for dinner. 

When Joe professed himself able to follow the directions, Uncle 
Frank called the other boys and marched them to the lake, saying: 

“ Boys, we must have a lesson in swimming the very first thing.” 
Not one of the boys demurred to this—in fact it just suited them. 
As they went toward the lake, Uncle Frank said : 

“ The art of swimming is not a difficult one to master, and every 
boy should attain it at as early an age as possible. To say nothing 
of his own greater safety, occasions often arise where a knowledge 
of it would enable a boy to save the life of some loved playmate or 
friend. The one great thing to be first impressed on a learner’s 
mind, is not to allow himself to become afraid too easily. Even 
should he go under water he has only to close his mouth and keep 
it closed and he will surely come to the surface again. No person 
need be drowned, save from exhaustion or inability through 
cramp, if presence of mind be retained.” 

“ It is hard not to open your mouth when you go under ” said 
George. “ I know that from experience. There is a natural desire 
to get breath, even though you may not stand in actual need of it.” 
“Eight. And yet that is exactly what should not be done. 


102 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


Until that is done, and a quantity of water admitted into the body, 
you are perfectly safe. The human body is only slightly heavier 
than the volume of water it displaces, and when the chest is filled 
with air, it ia in fact lighter than the volume of water displaced, 
and hence cannot sink until the conditions are altered. A person, 
being in danger, has only to turn on his back so as to bring his nose 
and mouth above the water, and by any movement of the hands 
he will be kept afloat for an indefinite length of time.” 

“ Is it true, Uncle Frank, that a human body is lighter than water 
when there is breath in it.” 

“It is.” 

“ Then, if a person keeps his breath, he could not possibly 
drown?” 

“ No, save as the result of accident. For instance, when the chest 
is filled with air the body is lighter than the water it displaces, and 
consequently floats, the upper half of the body being naturally 
lifted above the surface; it will remain there just as long as the 
person keeps his hands below the surface and paddles with them, 
but the instant he should raise his hands and arms out of the 
water he would go under, and probably being terrified would be¬ 
gin to struggle and thus rob himself of breath, or in gasping would 
swallow large quantities of water and suffocate himself, whereas 
if he had only remained quiet he would have continued to float. 
The reason of sinking following the elevating of the arms is due to 
the fact that just so much supporting space is removed, and down 
you go.” 

“What is the reason of cramps, Uncle Frank?” 

“ There are many reasons for them, and with some people they 
appear to be constitutional. Such should never risk going in 
bathing. The principal reason, however, are that the person at¬ 
tacked by them has gone into the water after eating heartily or 
while he was too warm.” 

“ Then it is not safe to go in swimming after eating ?” 

“ No. The best time for bathing is in the morning, either before 
breakfast or after it long enough to have given the food eaten time 

to digest. None should ever enter the water when the stomach is 

full, or when overheated, or exhausted with fatigue. It is also bad 
to walk until you are hot, then undress, sit down and get cool and 
then enter the water, as a result of which many lives are lost every 
year.” 

Uncle Frank was not the kind of a teacher to stand on the bank 
and give his instructions; instead, he undressed and joined the 
boys in the water. 

The instruction that he gave the boys may with more profit be 
put in a condensed form than to stretch it out over the space and 
in the order in which the various points came up. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


103 



In striking off, the learner should fall toward the water gently, 
keeping his head and neck perfectly upright, his breast advancing 
forward, his chest inflated; then, withdrawing the leg3 from the 
bottom, and stretching them out, strike the arms forward in uni¬ 
son with the legs. The back can scarcely be too hollowed, or the 
head too much thrown back, as those who do otherwise will swim 
with their feet too near the surface, instead of allowing them to be 
about a foot and a half deep in the water. The hands should be 
placed just in front of the breast, the fingers pointing forward and 
kept close together, with the thumbs to the edge of the forefingers; 
the hands must be made rather concave on the inside, though not 
so much as to diminish the size. In the stroke of the hands, they 
should be carried forward to the utmost extent, taking care that 
they do not touch the surface of the water; they should next be 
swept to the side, at a distance from, but as low as, the hips; and 
should then be drawn up again, by bringing the arms toward the 
side, bending the elbows upward and the wrists downward, so as 
to let the hands hang down while the arms are raising them to the 
first attitude. 

HOW TO MANAGE THE LEGS. 

The legs, which should be moved alternately with the hands, 
must be drawn up with the knees inward, and the soles of the feet 
inclined outward; and they should then be thrown backward, as 
widely apart from each other as possible. These motions of the 
hands and legs may be practiced out of the water; and while ex¬ 
ercising the legs, which can only be done one at a time, the learner 
may rest one hand on the back of a chair to steady himself while 
he moves the opposite leg. When in the water, the learner must 
take care to draw in his breath at the instant that his hands, de¬ 
scending to his hips, cause his head to rise above the surface of 
the water; and he should exhale his breath at the moment his 
body is propelled forward through the action of the legs. If he 
does not attend precisely to these rules, he must invariably have a 
downward motion, and, as the boys say, swim furthest where it is 
deepest. 



























104 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


PIATNGTNG AND DIVING. 

There are two kinds of plunging; that belonging to shallow, and 
that belonging to deep water. In shallow-water plunging, the 
learner should fling himself as far forward as possible into the 



Fig. 84. 


stream at a very oblique angle; and when he touches the water 
he should raise his bead, keep his back hollow, and stretch his 
hands forward. (Fig. 84.) 



Fig. 85. 

In the deep-water plunge, his body is to descend at a greater 
angle; his arms are to be stretched out, his hands closed and 
pointed, and his body bent, so that his nose almost touches his 
toes. (Fig. 85.) 

SWIMMING ON THE SIDE. 

In this the body is turned either on the left or right side, while 
the fe6t perform their usual motions. The arm from under the 
shoulder stretches itself out quickly, at the same time that the 
feet are striking. The other arm strikes at the same time with 
the impelling of the feet. The hand of the latter arm begins its 























THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


105 


stroke on a level with the head. While the hand is again brought 
forward in a flat position, and the feet are contracted, the 
stretched-out hand is, while working, drawn back toward the 
breast, but not so much impelling as sustaining. As swimming on 
the side presents to the water a much smaller surface than on the 
waist, the former is often preferable to the latter where rapidity 
is desired. 


SWIMMING ON THE BACK. 

In this the swimmer turns upon his back in the water by the 
combined motion of the arm and leg, and extending his body, his 
head being in a line with i, so that the back and upper part of the 
head may be immersed, while the face and breast are out of the 
water. The hands should be placed on the thighs straight down, 
and the lees moved as in forward swimming, taking care that the 
knees do not rise above the surface in striking them out. Some¬ 
times the hands are used after the motion of a wing or fan, by 
which a slight progress is also made at the same time that the sur¬ 
face of the body is well lifted out of the water. 

HAND OVER HAND SWIMMING. 

In this process the right hand is lifted out of the water from 
behind, swung forward through the air with a kind of circular 
sweep to the extent of its reach forward, then dropped into the 
water edgeways, and immediately turned, with the palm a little 
hollowed, downward, the body being at the same time thrown a 
little on one side, and the right leg stuck out backward to its 
full extent. The hand descends towards the thigh, and then passes 
upward through the water in a kind of curve toward the surface. 
The left hand and leg perform a similar movement alternately 
with the right, and the measure of progression attained by these 
combined similar movements is very considerable. (Fig. 86.) 



Fig. 86. 


FLOATING. 

The body is laid horizontally on the back, the head is bent back¬ 
ward as much as possible, the arms are stretched out over the 


























106 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


head in the direction of the body, the feet are left to their natural 
position; if they sink, the loins must be kept as low as possible. In 
this position, the person, who is specifically lighter than water, 
remains, and may float at pleasure. The lungs should be kept 
inflated, that the breast may be distended and the circumference 
of the body augmented. In order not to sink while in the act of 
taking breath, which the greater specific weight of the body would 
effect, the breath must be quickly expelled, and as quickly drawn 
in again, and then retained as long as possible; for, as the back is 
in a flat position, the sinking, on account of the resistance of the 
water, does not take place so rapidly, but the quick respiration will 
restore the equilibrium before the water reaches the nose. 

TREADING WATER. 

This is a perpendicular position of the swimmer, and is of great 
use to enable him to save a person from drowning. It is in general 
thought to be extremely difficult, but it is very easy. There are 
two ways of performing the action: in the first the hands are 
compressed against the hips, and the feet describe their usual 
circle; the other mode consists in not contracting both legs at the 
same time, but one after the other, so that while the one remains 
contracted, the other describes a circle. In this mode, however, 
the legs must not be stretched out, but the thighs are placed in a 
distended position, and curved as in a half-sitting posture. 





Fig. 87. 

The foregoing comprises all the elementary principles of the art 
of swimming, and what remains to be learned will be acquired 
























THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 107 

without trouble when the student has mastered the various move¬ 
ments described. 

Dismissing the subject of swimming now, not attempting to 
follow the individual progress of each of our Make and Mend 
Club boys, we will say that inside of two weeks they had all 
become fair swimmers. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

STILL AT THE LAKE. 

The boys had been at the lake about three weeks when they be¬ 
gan to tire of fishing, and as boys will do at such times began to 
hatch up mischief. 

Harry had never quite forgiven Ben Walden for the trick of 
writing him that letter with smypathetic ink, and at this juncture 
he squared off the account with interest. 

He went to the village at the foot of the lak6 one afternoon, and 
while there bought five cents’ worth of green copperas (sulphate 
of iron), and a few nutgalls. That night, the last thing before 
turning in, he dissolved the copperas in a bucket of water that 
stood handy, knowing that Ben, who was cook for the next day, 
would wash in this water immediately on rising in the morning. 
When the copperas was dissolved the water had as clear and in¬ 
nocent a look as before it had been tampered with. Harry had 
meanwhile powdered the nutgalls, and he strewed the dust over 
the towel pretty liberally, and they went smilingly to rest. 

At sunrise the next morning Ben was astir. The first thing to 
do was to build the fire. This done, he must wash, for which 
purpose he went to the full bucket, and soon was slashing the 
water around as though he were enjoying the ablution. 

Everything moved along all right until he went to dry himself. 
Then his face and hands began to turn black. He did not notice 
this until he happened to catch sight of his hands, and then he 
gave a great start of surprise. 

“ That’s very funny,” he muttered. “Surely my hands were 
clean when 1 took hold of this towel, but now they look as though 
they had been dipped in ink.” 

When he had washed them thoroughly, only to find that the 
color stuck, a nameless apprehension filled his heart, and his 
blood began to flow more swiftly. 

A liberal use of soap, he thought, removed a portion of the color 
from his hands, and he began to dry them again ; as he did this 
the color grew rapidly darker, and Harry’s eyes began to open in 
alarm, or something akin to it. 

He then chanced to think of his face, and took a glimpse of it in 
the little mirror that hung just inside the tent. 

Just one look he took, and then he let out a shriek of dismay 



108 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

that brought all the others out of a sound sleep and on their feet 
in an instant. 

All had recognized the voice as Ben’s, but only one of them rec¬ 
ognized him in the individual who stood there before them, wring¬ 
ing his hands in despair. 

To all appearance it was a stranger and a negro who had in¬ 
truded his presence on them. 

Uncle Frank sternly demanded: 

“ Come, blacky, what are you doing here, howling your head off 
and disturbing our slumbers?” 

“Oh—oh—oh!” moaned Ben. “ Oh, I’m turned into a black 
negro—I know I used to be white—tell me, Uncle Frank, will I 
always be this way?” 

A badly puzzled expression stole into Uncle Frank’s face. Sure¬ 
ly this was Ben’s voice, and yet how could it be Ben that was 
speaking—for this was a negro. 

Gazing more earnestly into the black face, Uncle Frank could 
trace well-known lineaments. It was Ben’s face without doubt. 
What djd it mean ? 

Harry was a delighted witness to all this, and it was all he could 
do to prevent laughing outright and thus betraying a guilty 
knowledge of what was the matter. 

The other boys were as much alarmed as puzzled. It was cer¬ 
tain that this person was Ben, and the change of color was por¬ 
tentous of some terrible evil, the nature of which they did not at¬ 
tempt to define, but only stood appalled before. 

“ What is the meaning of this, Ben?” inquired Uncle Frank. 

“I don’t know—oh—oh!— I’m turned into a darky, and I’ll 
never be white again. Oh—oh! what will mother say—what will 
father say? May be they won’t own me now that I’ve turned 
black!” was the piteous rejoinder. 

It was some few minutes beford Uncle Frank could calm Ben 
sufficiently to draw from him a history of what he had done since 
getting up that morning. 

“ So you did not notice anything wrong until after you had 
washed ?” said Uncle Frank, a little later. 

“I did not.” 

“ Did the color appear after you had washed, and before you 
had dried yourself?” 

“I didn’t notice it until after I had used the towel. Do you think 
I’ll ever get white again, Uncle Frank ?” 

“ I can’t say for sure yet. Did the water feel harsh on the 
skin ?” 

“ I did not notice that it did. Do you know what I am going to 
do?” 

“No; what?” 

“ Why, if I don’t come white again before it is time to go back 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


109 


home, I am going to drown myself in the lake. Yes, I am—oh! I , 
couldn’t live and be thought a darky.” 

Harry could contain himself no longer, and his laugh was so 
hearty it might have been heard half a mile. All looked at him 
in surprise, Uncle Frank included. 

The latter shrewdly surmised something back of it, although it 
was Mark who asked: 

“What is the matter with you, Harry? Are you absolutely 
heartless that you can laugh over a schoolmate’s misfortune?” 

“ It is so funny,” blurted Harry. 

Then flinging himself on the ground rolled over and over in his 
glee. 

Uncle Frank the next minute had him by the ear, and was 
marching him out of hearing of the others. 

When they were some little distance from the other boys, Uncle 
Frank said, sternly: 

“ Explain the meaning of this metamorphosis in Ben.” 

A grave expression came into Harry’s face, for the tone in which 
these words were uttered appeared to imply that Uncle Frank 
was vexed. 

But his fear of this vanished after a quick, upward glance, 
and a sight of the suppressed merriment in the kindly, gray 
eyes. 

In a few words Harry explained what he had done, and Uncle 
Frank actually laughed when he learned that there was no need 
of apprehending any serious results in Ben’s change of com¬ 
plexion. 

“ You will be white again in a few days,” Uncle Frank said 
consolingly,to Ben on his return to where the group of boys await¬ 
ed the result of the conference with Harry. “Your face is merely 
colored with black ink, and frequent washing for a day or two 
will bring it around all right.” 

Ben breathed deeply with relief. 

“Is Harry at the bottom of this?” he presently inquired, casting 
a half angry glance in his direction. 

“ I am,” Harry promptly returned. “ I vanted to get square on 
the sympathetic ink trick you played me. It is only returning a 
dose of ink for the dose you gave me.” 

Putting it in this light forced Ben to smother his resentment, 
while the other boys, on learning that no result could follow more 
seriouse than making a negro of Ben for two or three days, let 
themselves loose and enjoyed the situation to the utmost. 

Human being never washed more industriously than did Ben 
during the next two days. 

He did not get over thinking the joke a decidedly rough one un¬ 
til long after his skin had resumed its normal color. But perhaps 
the boys did not enjoy it. We rather think not. In time, how¬ 
ever, Ben could listen with equanimity to any allusion to his met- 


ilO THE MAKE AND MEND CLIJD. 

amorphosis without so much as wincing, when which was the case 
of course there was no longer any fun in alluding to it, and it was 
dropped. 

Still, later, Ben was able to laugh over it himself in a quiet way; 
but in the bottom of his heart he was determined to some day pay 
off the score. 

Finding that the boys were growing restive, Uncle Frank began 
devising means to interest them, at the same time always keeping 
in view that he wanted them to be exercising and gaining health 
and strength. 

Not far from the tent stood a tall, smooth-trunked, buttonball 
tree, which had never a limb from the ground to a point all of 
forty feet above their heads. 

In a fork of the top limbs was a large nest, visible from the 
ground, which Uncle Frank said had been made by an eagle. This 
fact made the boys all anxious to obtain possession of it; but after 
repeated trials they gave up attempting to climb the smooth trunk ; 
they went at it again, however, when Uncle Frank laughed at 
them and said the tree could easily be mounted by any boy of in¬ 
telligence, which latter they chose to take as a reflection on them¬ 
selves. 

Despite all their vim and pluck they could not help at last ac¬ 
knowledging themselves conquered by the feat, and Harry said: 

“ If it is as easy as you make out, Uncle Frank, suppose you show 
us how it is to be done.” 

“ With pleasure. I have been waiting for some time to Lear you 
ask me to do it. Get me a piece of rope, please.” 

“ How long a piece ?” 

“ About three feet.” 

A piece of rope of that length having been brought him, Uncle 
Frank went to the tree and fastened one end of it around the 
trunk in the shape of a slip-noose. 

The other end he made a sort of stirrup of for his right foot, 
which was at once inserted into it. 

Even yet the boys did not see what he meant to do; but after he 
had got started it was as clear as the noonday sun. 

Having drawn himself up a short distance by the use of his arms, 
Uncle Frank drew up his right foot, the loose noose following. 
When the foot was drawn up as far as he could bring it he rested 
his weight on the stirrup, and the noose around the tree tightened 
itself just in proportion as he rested more of his v eight on it. That 
was the whole of the principle. Every time he held on by his 
hands and relaxed the weight on the noose it would slip along the 
trunk, but the instant weight was added it girted the tree tightly 
and supported him. 

He only went up a little way, and coming down inquired: 

“ Well, boys, how many of you can do it now?” 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLtTfi. ill 

“I think we all can,” was the reply, with a sheepish air. “It’s 
very easy now that we have seen you do it.” 

“ Well, who goes up after the eagle’s nest ?” 

Joe was the first to respond, and to him was accorded the privi¬ 
lege of going after it. He was successful, and managed to get it 
safely down. 

Harry having taken a fancy for one of the pretty little yellow 
birds that were very numerous around the lake, Uncle Frank 
showed him how to make a simple trap that was yet a most excel¬ 
lent one for the purpose of catching the birds. 

It consists of four bricks placed as in the drawing, two length¬ 
ways upon their edges or narrow sides, one 
in front, and the fourth between the two side 
bricks; this is so placed that it will fall and 
lie easily upon the front brick. Within the 
trap a stout peg is driven into the ground, up- 
Fig. 88. on which a forked twig is placed horizon¬ 
tally ; above this a stick is placed, one end being on the twig 
and the other end supporting the brick in a slanting position. 
The end of the twig that rests on the peg is cut flat, to give it a 
better hold. The bait is strewn upon the ground on the inside of 
the trap. When the bird flies to the trap he generally perches fora 
moment on the forked twig; this his weight causes to give way, 
and the sustained brick, falling upon the outer or front brick, en¬ 
closes and secures the bird. Caution should be used in placing the 
upper brick, so that it does not fall between the two side bricks 
unsupported by the front brick, as in such a case the poor bird 
would be crushed to death. 

With this trap Harry caught a beautiful yellow bird, which he 
took home with him when he went. 

A couple of days later camp was broken, and they all went fur¬ 
ther up into the wilderness to a point where Uncle Frank could 
do a little gunning, which was the sport that he most delighted in. 

They stopped at the house of a farmer—or rather he called him¬ 
self such, although the land he owned was too stony and poor to 
raise a fair crop of anything. His living was obtained from the 
large number of cows that he owned, the milk from which he con¬ 
verted into butter, which was sent to a market in the city. 

It struck Harry that the method of churning was a very clumsy 
one, considering how much of it was necessary to be done, and he 
set his wits to work to devise some means of lessening the labor. 
There was a small stream of water not far from the house, which 
suggested using it as the motive power for some kind of a ma¬ 
chine. 

He finally hit upon the idea of a water-mill, and obtaining the 
farmer’s sanction he went to work. 

Driving to a country town some miles away, he had the tin¬ 
smith make a tube of sheet-iron, with two arms projecting at 



112 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


right angles close to the bottom. The perpendicular tube was 
brought to a point at the bottom and the end strongly sheathed 
with iron. The branching arms were closed at the ends, and near 
them in the sides were made very small holes for the escape of the 
water that was to be received from a pipe into the flaring top, as 
shown at figure 88. 

The machine rests on a block of 
stone into which has been cut a hollow 
to receive the pointed end of the up¬ 
right tube. The support at the top is 
given by a cross-beam in which the 
shaft “d” revolves. The shaft is fast¬ 
ened to the interior of the tube and at 
its top has attached a cogged wheel by 
which to transfer the motion. 

In the pipe “b” a stop-cock is placed 
by which to regulate the flow of water. 

The water-mill was a perfect success, 
and the farmer was highly delighted. 
Churning was no longer a labor, for all 
that it was necessary to do was to turn 
the stop-cock and let in the water, 
when with a jump the arms would be¬ 
gin to revolve and the machinery con¬ 
necting with the churn would be set in 
motion. 

This queer water-machine is usually 
Fig. 89. called “Barker’s Centrifugal Mill,” 

from the fact of its having been invented by Dr. Barker, who, in 
giving this strictly scientific apparatus to the world, puzzled all the 
philosophers and gained for himself a reputation that will live a 
long while. 

It may be interesting to know that no scientist has ever yet suc¬ 
cessfully explained the principal of its motion—they merely know 
that it turns, that in some way atmospheric pressure and the 
weight of the column of water in the tube are responsible for it, 
and there they stop. Some have tried to explain it, but have been 
unable to prove their theories, and hence are only given credit 
with having made a guess at the truth. 

As usual, Uncle Frank had some specific knowledge bearing on 
the case in hand, and he told the boys that years before, when he 
was only twelve or thirteen, he had made these water-machines by 
the score out of alder-tubes. That it can be done we know, for 
we have tried it ourselves. 

When Uncle Frank asked what the board-bill for himself and the 
boys would be, he was informed that the farmer had no bill to pre¬ 
sent. 

“How is that?” he surprisedly inquired. 













113 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

“Why,” was the reply, “I reckon as how the making of that 
water-mill leaves me in your debt, instead of your being in mine.” 

“ But you paid for all the materials,” protested Uncle Frank. 

“So I did—so I did ; but the idea is worth more than you have all 
cost me. Just think of the back-aches that I will be saved in the 
months to come!” 

And, in spite of all Uncle Frank could say, he would not accept 
a cent. 

A few days later the boys reached home, and right glad they 
were to get back, although not more so than their parents were to 
see them. 

The trip was enthusiastically voted to have been a grand suc¬ 
cess, and the boys determined that The Make and Mend Club 
should be kept in existence, and that they would raise a fund by 
making and mending which should pay the expenses of another 
trip. 

Our limited space enables us to only say briefly that they suc¬ 
ceeded in getting enough money together to pay for a winter trip 
to Florida, where they had a royal good time hunting and fishing. 

It is a matter of regret with us that in the space of one small vol¬ 
ume we cannot crowd the subsequent adventures, sports and ex¬ 
periments of the members of The Make and Mend Club, to whom 
we now lothfully bid farewell. 

[THE END.] 


THE MAKE A1S T D MEND CLUB. 


m 


vThe Deaf and Dumb Alphabet. 
















.THE MAKE AND MEND CLUE. 


115 





EXPLANATION.—Single-hand J is made by raising the little finger, 
and making a curved line in the air; Z is made by raising the fore finger, 
and drawing it downward in the shape of a Z. Double-hand H is made by 
drawing the right hand down the left; J is made by drawing the fore fin¬ 
ger of the right hand backward of the mickle finger of the left hand; also 
Y backward. 

We here give the accepted»forms in use of the single and double¬ 
hand deaf and dumb alphabets, by means of which deaf mutes are 
able to express themselves. A few hours’ practice will enable one 
to make the letter-signs with some degree of facility, and by devot¬ 
ing an hour a day to it the end of a week would find one able to 
hold converse with any other person familiar with the silent lan¬ 
guage. Somebody has facetiously called it “ the lovers’telegraph,” 



116 THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

v-'.*-'~ - r '". 

and we personally know of several instances in New York where 
people on opposite sides of the street have carried on conversations 
of a tender nature. This sign-language is open, however, to the 
objection that being seen it would be pretty sure to be understood 
by some one. Still it will do you no harm to practice a while on 
it, and you will probably derive from it more than enough pleasure 
to compensate for the labor of acquiring the art of “ talking with 
the fingers.” 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


117 


MISCELLANY. 


A CUTTER AT ANCHOR. 

It sometimes happens that a boy is desirous of knowing some¬ 
thing about a sailing vessel, and has not the means at hand to en¬ 
lighten him. For the benefit of such we herewith present a cutter 
at anchor, with her ropes and spars numbered for reference. 



pig. 90 . 

1. Stem. 2. Stern 3. Tiller. 4. Anchor. 5. Cable. 6. Bowsprit. 7. Bobstay. 8. 
Mast. 9. Topmast. 10. Truck. 11. Vane and Spindle. 12. Cross-trees. 13. Trus- 
sle-tree. 14. Gaff. 15. Boom. 16. Topmast-shroud. 17. Topmast back-stay. 18. 
Topmast-stay. 19. Runner and tackle. 20. Traveler for Jib. 21. Forestay. 22. 
Topping Lift. 23. Lift Blocks. 24. Mainsheet. 25. Peak Halliards. 26. Foresheet. 
29. Signal Halliards. 30. Companion. 31. Forecastle. 32. Rudder. 

SOMETHING ABOUT MASTS AND SPARS. 

The Mast (8) is a spar set nearly upright, inclining a little aft, to 

support yards and sails. In a yacht, it is kept in its place by two 

shrouds on each side, made of strong rope, and fastened to the 

sides of the vessel. 

The Bowsprit (6) is a spar carried out from the forepart of a 
yacht, secured at its inner end between two strong posts piercing 














118 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


the deck, called “ the bitts.” It is kept in its place by the bobstay 
(7), which is fastened to the stem, and by a shroud on each side 
secured to the bow. 

The Boom (15) is that spar which sets out the mainsail below, 
and is attached at one end to the mast by a swivel cable, called 
the “goose-neck,” and is eased off or hauled in at the other by 
the mainsheet (24), which is a rope passing from the end of the 
boom through a block on the side of the vessel. 

The Gaff (14) sets out the mainsail above, and slides up and down 
the mast by means of a crescent end, which embraces it. The 
sides of this curve are called “ horns.” 

The Topmast (9) stands above the mast, and is made to slide up 
and down. On it a topsail (i. e. a gaff-topsail) is set in light winds; 
but both sail and mast are generally lowered in squally weather. It 
is kept steady by a backstay (17) on each side of the foretopmast- 
stay. The latter is brought down to the bowsprit. 

NAUTICAL TERMS. 

Aback , the situation of the sails when the wind presses their sur¬ 
faces against the mast. 

Abaft, toward the stern, behind the mainmast. 

About, on the other tack; going about, tacking. 

Abreast, alongside of. 

Adrift, broken from moorings. 

Afloat, on the surface of the water. 

Ahead, in the direction of tho vessel’s stem. 

Amidships, in the middle of the vessel. 

Apeak, when the cable is hove taut, so as to bring the vessel 
nearly over the anchor. 

Astern, in the direction of the vessel’s stern. 

Avast, an order to stop. 

Athwart, across—as “ thwart hawse.” 

Backstays, ropes running from topmast and top-gallantmast to 
her sides. 

Ballast, heavy materials placed in the bottom of the boat, to 
bring her low in the water. 

Beacon , a post or buoy placed over a shallow bank, to warn 
vessels. 

Bearings, the widest part of the vessel below the upper deck. 
The bearings of an object is its direction according to the points of 
the compass. 

Belay, to; to make a rope fast. 

Bend, to; is to make a sail fast to the yard, or a cable to the 
anchor. 

Berth, the place where the vessel lies; a man's sleeping place on 
board. 

Bulwarks, the woodworks of a vessel above deck; also the 
wooden partition between cabins. 

Bunting, the woollen stuff of which ships’ colors are made. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


119 

Buoy, a floating cask or piece of wood. 

Cabin, the after part of the vessel in which the officers live. 

Capstan, a machine placed perpendicularly on deck, round 
which the cable is passed, in order to hoist the anchor. It is 
moved round with bars of wood stuck into it, which are called 
handspikes or capstanbars. 

Cathead, large pieces of wood over the bow, having sheaves 
within them, by which the anchor is hoisted or lowered. 

Cleat, pieces of wood on which ropes are belayed. 

Combings , raised woodwork round the hatches, to prevent the 
water going down to the hold. 

Companion, ladder leading down to the state cabins. 

Davits, rods of timber or iron, with sheaves or blocks at their 
ends, projecting over a vessel’s side or stern, to hoist boats up to. 

Draught, the depth of water which a vessel requires to float her. 

Feather, to; to lift the blade of the oar horizontally as it comes 
out of the water. 

Fenders, pieces of wood or rope hanging over the side of a boat, 
to keep it from chafing. 

Fathom, six feet. 

Flat, a sheet is said to be hauled flat, when it is hauled down 
close. 

Fore and Aft, lengthwise with the vessel. 

Forecastle, the part of the vessel before the foremast. 

Foul Anchor, when the cable has a turn round the anchor. 

Gaft, a spar to which the head of a fore and aft sail is bent. 

Gage, depth of water in a vessel—this water is called “ bilge 
water.” 

Gangway, that part of a vessel’s side through which people pass 
in and out of the vessel. 

Gaskets, pieces of rope or plaited stuff, used to fasten the sail to 
the yard when it is furled. 

Give way, to; to row more forcibly. 

Grapnel, a small anchor with several claws, generally four, used 
to secure boats. 

Gunwale, (pronounced gun’el,) the upper rail of a boat or vessel. 

Jibe, to; to shift over the boom of a fore-and-aft sail. 

Halliards, ropes used for hoisting or lowering yards and sail. 

Hatchway, an opening of the deck. 

Hatches, the covering of hatchways. • 

Hawser, a large rope. 

Helm, the steering apparatus. 

Holdwatcr, to; to stop the progress of a boat, by keeping the oars 
in the water. 

Jib, a triangular headsail. 

Jib-boom, a spar rigged out beyond the bowsprit. 

Jurymast, a temporary mast rigged in the place of a lost one. 


130 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


Lee Board, a board fitted to the lee side of flat-bottomed boats, 
to prevent their drifting to leeward. 

Log, a journal of the proceedings of a vessel; also a line with a 
triangular piece of board, called the log ship, which is cast over¬ 
board to ascertain the ship’s rate of sailing. 

Luff, to; to steer the boat nearer the wind. 

Lurch, the sudden rolling of a vessel to one side. 

Marline-spike, an iron pin sharpened at one end, to separate the 
strands of a rope. 

Martingale, or Dolphin-striker, a short perpendicular spar under 
the bowsprit’s end. 

Miss stays, to fail going about. 

Oakum, pieces of yarn picked to pieces, used for calking. 

Overhauul, to; when a rope is passed through two blocks, in 
order to make a tackle, the rope which is hauled on is called the 
fall; if one of the blocks gets loose, the act of hauling on the rope 
between the blocks, in order to separate them, is called over¬ 
hauling. 

Painter, a rope attached to the bow of a boat. 

Pendant, a long narrow flag at the mast-head. 

Quarter, that part of the vessel between the stern and the main 
chains. 

Ratlines (pronounced Rat’lins,) ropes fastened across the shrouds 
like tin steps of a ladder. 

Scud, to; to drive along before a gale with do sail, or only 
enough to keep her ahead of the sea. Also, low thin clouds flyiug 
swiftly before the wind. 

Spanker, or Driver, the after sail of a ship or bark. It is fore 
and aft ^ail set with a boom and gaff. 

Splice, to; to join two ropes together by entwining their strands; 
a rope is generally formed of three strands twisted together. 

Spring, to; to split a mast. 

Stays, large ropes leading from the masthead forward. 

Staysail, a sail hoisted on a stay. 

Steerage, the part of the ’tween decks just before the after cabin. 

Stretcher, pieces of wood placed across a boat’s bottom for the 
rowers to put their feet against. 

Surge, large swelling waves breaking over rocks. 

Taut, tight. 

Throat, the inner edge of the gaff which rests against the mast. 

Unbend, to; to untie. 

Unmoor, to; to heave up one anchor, or to unfasten the ship 
from her moorings. 

Vane, a piece of bunting at the masthead to show the direction 
of the wind. 

Waist, that part of the upper deck between the quarter-deck 
and the forecastle. 

Wake, the path that a ship leaves behind her in the water. 

Wear, to; to come around on the other side of the wind without 
backing. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


121 


Odds and Ends. 


The six largest rivers in the world are the Mississippi, United 
States; Amazon, South America; Hoang Ho, China; Murray, 
Australia; Obi, Siberia; and the Nile in Egypt. 

Rubber boots can be mended by a cement made by dissolving a 
piece of rubber in naphtha. 

The gumming substance used on postage stamps is made as fol¬ 
lows : In a water bath dissolve gum dextrine, two parts; acetic 
acid, one part; water, five parts; one part alcohol is then added 
to the mixture. 

The thinnest substance ever observed is the aqueous film of a 
soap bubble previous to bursting. 

The distance of the sun from the earth is ninety-five millions of 
miles, and the estimated diameter is eight hundred and eighty 
thousand miles. 

The earth’s motion in its orbit is at the rate of sixty-eight thou¬ 
sand miles an hour. 

The largest cathedral in the world is St. Peter’s at Rome. It was 
begun in 1450, and was not finished until one hundred and seventy 
years later. Its dimentions are : Length of the interior, six hun¬ 
dred and thirteen feet six inches; height of nave, one hundred and 
fifth-two feet six inches; circumference of pillars which support 
the dome, two hundred and fifty-three feet; height of the dome 
from the pavement to the base of the lantern is four hundred and 
five feet ; to the top of the cross, four hundred and forty-eight 
feet. 

The largest inland sea is the Caspian. Its greatest length is 
seven hundred and sixty miles, its greatest breath two hundred 
and seventy, and its area 180,000 square miles. 

The height of the obelisk in Central Park, New York, without 
pedestal, is sixty-eight feet eleven inches; its weight about one 
hundred and sixty-eight tons. 

The first printing press in the United States was worked in 1620. 

The weight of the air on a human being of average size amounts 
to fourteen tons, or fifteen pounds to the square inch. 

It is estimated that 100,000,000 tons of water pass over Niagara 
Falls every hour. 

A man breathes about eighteen times a minute, and uses about 
3,000 cubic feet, orabout three hundred and seventy-five hogsheads, 
of air per hour. 

At Quito, the only city in the world on the line of the equator, 
the sun sets and rises at six o’clock the year round. 



122 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUE. 


A cubic foot of water weighs sixty-two and one half pounds, 
contains 1728 cubic inches, or seven and one half gallons. 

The lake that has the highest elevation of any in the world is 
Green Lake, Colorado. Its surface is 10,252 feet above the level of 
the sea. 

Four barrels of water from the Great Salt Lake, after evapora¬ 
tion, will leave a barrel of salt. 

A ton of pure gold will make something over $602,785. 

The first steam engine on this continent was brought from Eng¬ 
land in 1753. 

The largest ship in the world is the Great Eastern. She is six 
hundred and eighty feet long, eighty-three feet beam, and sixty 
feet deep, being 22,927 tons burden, 18,915 gross and 13,344 net 
register. She was built at Millwall, on the Thames, and was 
launched January 31,1857. 

The largest body of fresh water on the globe is Lake Superior. 
It is four hundred miles long, one hundred and sixty wide at its 
greatest breadth, and has an area of 32,000 square miles. Its mean 
depth is said to be two hundred feet, and its greatest depth about 
nine hundred fathoms. Its surface is six hundred and thirty-five 
feet above the sea. 

The largest tunnel in the world is that of St. Gothard, on the line 
of railroad between Lucerne and Milan. The summit of the tun¬ 
nel is nine hundred and ninety feet below the surface at Auder- 
matt, and 6,600 feet beneath the peak at Kastelhorn, of the St. 
Gothard group. The tunnel is twenty six and one-half feet wide, 
and nineteen feet and ten inches from the floor to the crown of the 
arched roof. It is nine and one-half miles long, one and five- 
eighths miles longer than the Mt. Cenis tunnel. 

The largest bell in the world is the great bell of Moscow, at the 
foot of the Kremlin. Its circumference at the bottom is nearly 
sixty-eight feet, and height more than twenty-one feet. In its 
stoutest part it is twenty-three inches thick, and its weight has 
been computed to be 443,772 pounds. It has never been hung, and 
was probably cast on the spot where it now stands. A piece of the 
bell is broken off. The fracture is supposed to have been occa¬ 
sioned by water having been thrown upon it when heated by the 
building erected over it being on fire. 

In mending crockery, one of the strongest cements for the pur¬ 
pose—and one which is easily applied—is composed of lime and the 
white of an egg. To use it, take 1 a sufficient quantity of the egg to 
mend one article at a time, shave off a quantity of lime, and mix 
thoroughly. Apply quickly to the edge3, and place firmly together, 
when it will soon become set and strong. Mix but a small quan¬ 
tity at once, as it hardens very quickly, and then cannot be used. 

The largest gold nugget taken from the California mines was 
found in the Monumental Quartz Mine, Sierra Buttes. It weighed 
1596 ounces, was sold for $21,636, and valued at $22,000, 


123 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 

The discovery of the art of printing has probably been the 
greatest boon to humanity of any one thing, excepting perhaps 
steam. The history of it has been often given. Movable types 
were not used until the fifteenth century. Books were printed by 
the Chinese and other eastern nations from engraved blocks long 
before the invention of type. The first types were of wood. The 
same material is still much used for the larger varieties of letters. 
Johannes Guttenburg is generally believed to have been the first 
to manufacture movable types. An edition of Donatus was the 
first book printed from movable types. The finest letters were 
characters imitating handwriting. Roman type was first made in 
146r>; Italic about the year 1500. Type founding was a part of the 
business of a printer, and was declared a distinct art by a decree of 
the Star Chamber in 1637. The largest size of type used for books 
is great primer; the smaller sizes are English, pica, small pica, 
long primer, bourgeois, brevier, minion, nonpariel, agate, pearl, 
diamond and brilliant. Pearl is the smallest type found in ordi¬ 
nary printing offices. In America printers are paid by the 1,000 
ems (M), an em being equivalent to about two letters; in England 
the matter is measured by ens (N), 2,000 of which are equal to 1,000 
ems. In type founding the formation of the punches constitute 
the initial step. A punch is an exact prototype of the cast letter, 
so far as the face of it is concerned. After this original has been 
formed by the means of cuttings, punching and filing, it is hard¬ 
ened, and its face being struck into a piece of copper, a matrix is 
formed. This matrix is fixed with the greatest nicety into a care¬ 
fully adjusted piece of mechanism called a mold. An alloy, con¬ 
sisting of lead, tin, antimony, and sometimes copper, is poured in 
a molten state into this mold, and when the metal sets the type is 
dextrously and quickly removed. Although these operations are 
sufficiently complicated, an expert workman will cast in an hour 
five hundred types. When the letters leave the mold several op¬ 
erations have to be performed upon them in order to render them 
fit for the printer’s purpose. Originally all impressions from types 
were taken by means of the hand press, the inventor of which is 
unknown. The earlier forms of it bore a very close likeness to the 
common wine or cider press, with the addition of a contrivance 
for running in the forms when inked under the pressure and out 
again when the impression had been taken. This rude piece of 
mechanism was improved upon by William Janssen Blaew, an as¬ 
sistant to the illustrious astronomer, Tycho Brahe. The hand press 
is still used, without any improvement, in the majority of country 
offices. Hand presses are also used in large offices where very fine 
and perfect work is required. Ink rollers are made of a mixture 
of glue and molasses, and were invented by one Gannal, a glue 
manufacturer of Paris. Printing ink consists essentially of a mix¬ 
ture of lampblack, finely divided carbon and clarified linseed oil— 
the lampblack to be obtained from the smoke of naphtha. 


124 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


To copy engravings, mix ten grains of bichromate of potash and 
twenty grains of sulphate of copper in one ounce of distilled water. 
Spread this mixture over common writing-paper, and let it dry ; 
then place the engraving, face downward, on the prepared side of 
the paper, cover them with a piece of plate-glass, and expose to 
the sunshine. In about half an hour a faint copy is produced in 
yellow. This must be washed over with a solution of nitrate of 
silver, twenty grains to an ounce of distilled water, and, when 
washed over, a beautiful red picture makes its appearance. Fix 
by washing in pure water. If it be desired to change the color of 
the picture, soak it in salt and water till it disappears; then hold it 
in the sun for five minutes, and the same picture again appears in 
a fine lilac color. 

Impressions from seals, coins and medals may be taken with sul¬ 
phur. The sulphur should be melted in any closed porcelain ves¬ 
sel having a lid, such as a gallipot. When thoroughly liquid, it 
must be poured into water; it then has a reddish color, and is as 
soft as molten wax. In this state the impression is made, and the 
sulphur in a short time becomes hard. Not being affected by 
either air or moisture, impressions made thereon are very durable 
and will last some time. 

The East River Bridge has a total length of five thousand nine 
hundred and eighty-nine feet, distributed as follows : Length of 
river span, one thousand five hundred aud ninety-five feet six 
inches; length of each land span, nine hundred and thirty feet; 
length of Brooklyn approach, nine hundred and seventy-one feet; 
length of New York approach, one thousand five hundred and 
sixty-two feet six inches; size of New York caisson, one hundred 
and seventy-two by one hundred and two feet; size of Brooklyn 
caisson, one hundred and sixty-eight by one hundred and two 
feet; timber and iron in caisson, five thousand two hundred and 
fifty-three cubic yards; concrete in well-holes, chambers, etc., five 
thousand six hundred and sixty-nine cubic feet; weight of New 
York caisson, about seven thousand tons; weight of concrete fill- 
ing, eight thousand tons; New York tower contains forty-six 
thousand nine hundred and forty-five cubic yards masonry; 
Brooklyn tower contains thirty-eight thousand two hundred and 
fourteen yards; width of bridge, eighty-five feet; number of 
cables, four; diameter of each cable, fifteen and three-quarter 
inches first wire was run on May 28,1877; cable making really 
commenced June 11,1877; length of each wire in single cables, 
three thousand five hundred and seventy-nine feet; length of wire 
in four cables, exclusive of wrapping wire, fourteen thousand 
three hundred and sixty-one miles; weight of four cables, inclu¬ 
sive of wrapping wire, three thousand five hundred and thirty- 
eight and a half tons; ultimate strength of each cable, twelve 
thousand two hundred tons; weight of wire, nearly eleven feet 
per pound; each cable contains five thousand two hundred and 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 125 

ninety-six parallel, not twisted, galvanized steel, oil-coated wires, 
closely wrapped in a solid cylinder fifteen and three-quarter inches 
in diameter; depth of tower foundation, below high water, 
Brooklyn, forty-five feet; New York, seventy-eight feet; size of 
towers at high water line, one hundred and forty by fifty-nine 
feet; size of towers at roof course, one hundred and thirty-six by 
fifty-three feet; total height of towers above high water, two 
hundred and seventy-eight feet; clear height of bridge in center 
of river span above high water at ninety degrees F., one hundred 
and thirty-five feet; height of floor at towers above high water, 
one hundred and nineteen feet three inches; grade of road way, 
three and a quarter feet in one hundred feet; height of towers 
above roadway, one hundred and fifty-nine feet; size of anchor¬ 
ages at base, one hundred and twenty-nine by one hundred and 
nineteen feet; size of anchorage at top, one hundred and seventeen 
by one hundred and four feet; height of anchorages, eighty-nine 
feet front, eighty-five feet rear; weight of each anchor plate, 
twenty-three tons. Construction commenced January 3, 1870. 
Engineer, Colonel W. A. Roebling. 

To prepare a bird skin for stuffing the implements required are 
a surgeon's scalpel (or a penknife will do), three pieces of annealed 
wire, sharpened at one end to a cutting point, sifted sawdust, cot¬ 
ton, some tow, a pair of tweezers, pliers, a spool of thread, and 
a preserving mixture, composed of two parts of salt and one of 
alum. Lay the bird on its back, and part the feathers so as to 
make an incison from the end of the breast-bone to the tail, being 
careful not to cut through the walls of the abdomen. Sprinkle 
sawdust in the cut to absorb the moisture. Raise the skin on one 
side of the incision, and press the flesh away from it. Much of the 
skinning may be done by the aid of a piece of wood shaped like a 
spatula. With this press the skin gently from the body till the 
leg is reached, then push it up through the skin, and sever it at 
the joint thus brought to view; repeat the same process on the 
other side of the body. Cut through the flesh and backbone to the 
skin of the back, using every care to save all the tail feathers. 
Proceed with the skinning to the wings, and sever them from the 
body at the second joint. Skin nearly to the base of the bill, re¬ 
moving the eyes and ears very carefully. Separate the neck by 
cutting a nearly square place in the base of the skull and jaw, 
which will allow the neck to be withdrawn, together with the 
tongue and some of the brains. Remove all remaining matter 
from the skull, and sprinkle freely with the salt and alum com¬ 
pound. Place a small piece of cotton in the eye orbits to keep 
them open. The “ tanning ” is performed by rubbing the above 
mixture into the skin until every part is thoroughly saturated 
with it. Take measurements of the skinned body, and on a piece 
of wire, which should be two inches longer than the bird, place 
the tow, winding it with the thread, and shaping it after the form 


136 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


of the skinned bird from the measurements taken. Insert this 
false body in the, skin, running the sharpened end of the wire 
through the center of the skull, clipping it off when the skin is 
dry. The remaining wires are thrust in the bottom of the foot, up 
through the leg, and firmly secured in the body. Sew up the cut 
in the abdomen, dressing the feathers nicely over it. Open the 
bill and fill the head with cotton; insert artificial eyes ; fasten the 
feet wires to the perch, and finally bend the body into a natural 
position. 

To obtain a perfect fac-simile of fall leaves, dissolve in a saucer 
of water about a teaspoonful of bichromate of potash. Pass the 
paper to be used through this solution, and, while wet, press the 
leaves lightly upon it, and expose it to the sun when it is shining 
brightly. When perfectly dry, remove the leaves, and a fac-simile 
will be left in a light lemon shade, while the rest of the paper will 
be of a dark brown. 

Many, many accidents take place by persons going down into 
wells for the purpose of cleansing them, by the noxious gas in such 
places. To remove the gas before descent is made into any well or 
damp pit, a quantity of burned but unslacked lime should be 
thrown down. This, when it comes in contact with whatever 
water is below, sets free a great amount of heat in the water and 
lime, producing steam, absorbing and carrying with it a portion 
of the deleterious gas as it rushes upward. The lime water at the 
bottom of the well also rapidly absorbs the gas, which effect is 
greatly increased by agitation. Forty-eight hours after the addi¬ 
tion of the lime, a descent may be made with perfect safety. 

Copal trees are found in large numbers on the coast of Africa. 
The gum-copal proper is a semi-fossil found in the earth from three 
to five feet from the surface, having at some time dripped from 
trees or their roots which are now decayed and gone. Gum is is¬ 
sued from trees at the present time, but, from lack of the necessary 
extreme age, is very inferior in quality. 

Postage stamps were first used in England in 1840, and in the 
United States in 1847. 

The seven wonders of the world were as follows: The Egyptian 
Pyramids; Artemisia’s Mausoleum; Diana’s Temple at Ephesus; 
Babylon’s Hanging Gardens; the Colossus at Rhodes; the Statue 
of Jupiter Olympus; the Lighthouse at Alexandria. 

It is not known when gunpowder was first invented. It has 
been credited, however, to Berthold Schwartz, an old monk, who, 
it is claimed, manufactured black powder first, somewhere be¬ 
tween 1320 and 1380. It is proved clearly that it was in use in In¬ 
dia ages before Schwartz lived. A chronological statement com¬ 
piled by Rziha says that in A. D. 80 the Chinese had a knowledge 
of gunpowder obtained from India. In 690 the Arabs used fire¬ 
arms against Mecca, bringing their knowledge also from India. 
In 1085 the Greek ships used artillery against Pisans. 


THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


127 

INDEX. 


Mending Alabaster with Plaster Paris, ----- 8 

Mending a Lamp with Plaster Paris, ----- 9 

Well for Canary Cage, - -- -- -- - 10 

Diseases of Canaries, ------- 12 

Abscesses of Canaries, ------ 12 

Jack Plane, - -- -- -- -- 14 

Long Plane, --------- 14 

Smoothing Plane, - -- -- -- - 14 

Saw 8 , -------14 

Spoke-shave, -------- - 15 

Brace, etc., _________ 15 

Kites,.16 

Stilts,.17 

Duck on a Rock, - 19 

Putting up a Swing, - 20 

Feats on a Swing, -------- 21—24 

Sucker, - -- -- -- -- -24 

Pump, - -- -- -- -- - 25—26 

Hop Scotch, ----------27 

Stilt Race,.- 28—31 

Tug of War,.31 

Skating,.- 32—33 

Changing Screw-heel to Club Skates, ----- 34 

Sharpening Skates, - -- -- -- - 35 

Shinny, - -- -- -- -- 35—36 

Guard Line, - -- -- -- -- 36 

Mending Skates-trap, - -- -- -- -37 

Making a Sled, - -- -- -- - 37—30 

Gilding without a Battery, ------ 40—41 

Making Gas with Clay Pipe, - - - - - 41—42 

An Amusing Toy, - -- -- -- - 42 

A Figure “ 4 ” Trap, ------- - 43—44 

Making a Rain Gauge, ------ 44—45 

“ Pantagraph, ------- 46—43 

“ Kaleidoscope, - ----- 48—49 

“ Siphon, -------- 50 

“ Windmill (Sand-wheel), ----- 50—52 

“ Hydrometer, - - - - - - - 53—54 

“ Magic Lantern, ------ 54—57 

“ An Aquarium, ------- 58—59 

Sympathetic Ink, ------- - 61 

Trick with Watch aDd Magnet, ------ 62—63 

A Protean Liquid, ------- 63—64 

Heart and Ball Puzzle, - - - - - - - 64—66 

Triangle Square Puzzle, ------ 64—66 

Bean Shooter, - -- -- -- - 67 

A Gymnasium, - -- -- -- - 68—73 


























THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB. 


128 

A Silver Tree—How made, - 
Engraving- on Egg Shells, - 
A Liquid Produced from Two Solids, 

A Solid Produced from Two Liquids, 

The Egg in the Phial, - 

The Magic Spoon, - 

Philosophy Cheated—a very clever trick, 

The Balanced Stick, - 

Dime in center of a ball of cotton, 

A Problem, - 

The Perilous Goblet, - 

The Mysterious Bottle, - 

The Poised Penny, - 

Mending a Torn Rubber Coat, 

Ebonizing Wood, - 
Making a “ Buzz,” - 

“ “Cricket,” - 
“ “Jigger-spin,” - 

“ Violet Ink, - 

“ Redink, - - - 

Hazelnut Whistle, - 

Hare and Hounds, - 

Baseball, ------ 

Making a Telescope, - 

“ Fire Baloon, - - 

“ Touch Paper, - 
“ Cases for Rockets, etc., 

Choking Cases, .... 

Filling Cases, - 

Roman Candies and Stars, ... 
Catharine Wheels, - - - - - 

Colored Fires, - - - - - 

“ “ Crimson, - 

“ “ Blue, .... 

“ “ Green, - 

“ “ Purple, - 

“ “ White, - - - 

“ “ Spur, - 

Blue Lights, - 

Wild Fires, ------ 

Slow Fire, - 

Dead Fire, ------ 

Caution ------ 

An Effective Mode of Rousing a Sleeper, - 
Knots for Fishlines, - - - - 

Trouting—General Information, 

Artificial Flies, - - - - - 

A Fish Seducer, - - - 

Swimming, - 

Striking Off,. 

Managing the Legs, - - - - 

The Flat Dive, - 

The Head Dive, - - - - - 

Swimming on the Side - - - - 

“ “ Back, - 

“ Hand over Hand, - 

Floating, - - - 

Treading Water, - - - - - 

A White Person Made Black, 

How to Climb a Tree, - 
A Simple Bird-trap, - - - - 

Making a Water Mill, - - - 

The Deaf and Dumb Alphabet, - 
A Cutter at Anchor, - 
About Masts and Spars, - 
Nautical Terms, - - >1» 7 7 —. A 

Odds and Ends, - - » -° 


73 

73 

74 
74 
74 
74 


76 

76 

77 

- 77 
77 
77 

79 

- 79 

80 
80 
81 

- 82 
82 

- 83 

83- 84 

84— 86 

- 86—87 

88 

88 

88 

88 

88 

89 

89 

89 

89 

89 

89 

89 

- 90 

90 

- - 90 

90 

90 

90 

- - 90 

92 

94 

- 95—97 
97—98 
100 

- - 101 

103 

- 103 

104 

- 104 
104 

- 105 
105' 

- 105 
106 

- 108 
110 

- - 111 
112 
114-116 
117 
117 

118—120 

121 







































































































































































































